Author: Leslie Wilkerson

When asked to link a text to Fun Home I immediately thought of Cereus Blooms at Night. I did not realize how many themes the two books shared until I thought about the different reading and text we have accumulated over the semester, and realized that those two shared a great deal of things in common.

In both Cereus Blooms at Night and Fun Home the main characters fathers are emotionally disconnected in their lives. In Cereus Blooms at Night  Asha and Mala’s mother abandons them to be with another woman, a woman who they considered to be their aunt. Due to their mothers sudden leave of absence their father takes out his anger and sexual frustration on the two girls. In Fun Home Bruce Bechdel is emotionally unattached from his family. He is very distant from his family, which he expresses in silence, coldness, and occasional abusive tempers. Alison’s father was also a closeted homosexual, keeping up relations with some of his high school students. Alison’s father and Mala and Asha’s father remind a lot of each other, they are both absorbed in their own lives, misery, and insecurities that they neglect and take their problems out on their children.

Tyler and Alison share a similar struggle with their sexual identity. In fun home I feel like Alison struggles with coming to terms with who she is along with Tyler who was a lost soul up until the end of the book. In both books Tyler and Alison also look to others to help complete and figure out the story of who they are. Alison who shares more in common with her dad than she thinks and Tyler who looks to Miss Ramchandin’s story in search for his own.

“I am beginning to understand some things about her and I think that that she does not like things in nature to be hurt. To her, the flower and the plant would both be suffering because they were separated from each other… It would be as if its arm had been cut off or something. I think it would upset her greatly and set her back.” (69)

This quote is the response Tyler gives to the gardener Mr. Hector after he asked Tyler to ask Miss. Ramchandin if she would be interested in gardening. I found this quote very ambiguous. In one instance Tyler displays how protective he is over Miss. Ramchandin and how much he truly cares for her mental and well-being but in another instance this can be interpreted as Tyler considering Miss. Ramchandin’s past and how current things affect her.

In the begging of the quote Tyler says “I am beginning to understand some things about her.” I think Tyler feels he is slowly but surely beginning to understand Miss. Ramchandin’s through her body language, noises, and their eye contact interactions. Along with their interactions I think that by Tyler narrating Miss. Ramchandin’s story he is getting to know a part of her that no one else can understand nor identify with. With that said Tyler feels he is obligated to be Miss Ramchandin’s voice and speak for her. In his mind if he no one anyone else will.

Further along in the passage he says “…the flower and the plant would both be suffering because they were separated.” I think the word separate is they key word in this sentence. When he refers to the flowers being separated I think Tyler was also alluding to Miss Ramchandin’s being abandoned and separated from her mother as young girl. He then says “I think it would upset her greatly and set her back.” I think he said that because Miss. Ramchandin has been through a great deal of trauma in her life and he doesn’t want her to overthink of gardening to bring back up old feeling that she experienced as a child.

“Honey, if there is one thing I can’t stand it’s a hero without a cause. People like that just make trouble so that they can solve it” (159)

This passage struck me as unusual because those words are coming from an intoxicated woman who could barely capable of forming complete sentences. I think this quote is very important because even under the influence Gail could see right through the mistake that Z made. I think this passage is about confronting and the fact that he/she has commitment issues. Z claims to have loved Louise but as soon he saw their relationship getting difficult he/she took that as hi/her opportunity to flee. Z is trying to convince him/herself that he/she did Louise a favor but really all Z did was leave Louis at a time when she needed him/her the most. The quote is saying that people like Z often look for the easy way out difficult situations and try to mask their acts of coward as being heroes or people who are trying to help. I think “People like that just make trouble so that they can solve it” is such an important piece of that statement because a few page ahead you can see that Z is constantly trying to get in touch with Elgin to check on Louise, almost trying to be her hero in disguise. Z likes to believe he/she has the power to still be relevant in Louise’s life but what Z doesn’t realize is he/she gave that right up the moment he/she left to fight her battle of cancer with a man she has no desire in loving. Although Z is no longer in Louise’s life he is still trying to solve the trouble he made. This passage is asking us to look at time as more of a essence. In this passage timing is everything. From the time the narrator agreed to accompany Gail to dinner after work lead up to Gail subconsciously calling Z out for his wrong doings to Louise.

“I considered her. I didn’t love her and I didn’t want to love her. I didn’t desire her and I could not imagine desiring her.” (26)

The narrators need to constantly remind that  “ I didn’t love her”, “I didn’t want to love her”, and, “I didn’t desire her” throughout the quote was something that I found very captivating. The repetitions in this passage made me question the narrator’s honesty. Repetition is interesting in way that it has the ability to form arrangements, which catches our attention creating comfort within our minds. If you repeat something several times a part of you will start to believe it, whether it is true or not. I questioned whether Z was trying to convince the audience or him/herself that he had no intentions of loving Jacqueline. I think that Z wanted to make sure that his/her point was made by letting us know that not only did he not love and desire her but he had no intention of loving nor desiring her. It is almost like he was refusing himself love.

I think this passage is about the way Z views relationships and how one should feel in relationship. The fact that Z can even say “I considered her” says a lot about how much he/she values relationships and the importance of a relationship and love. In this passage Z comes off as very selfish. Even though he/she does not love Jacqueline and has no intention on loving he/she still does not mind having her around. Z is selfish for not being honest with her. Instead of thinking about her feeling and needs as a person who also would like to be loved all he can offer her is being “considered”.  I think this passage is forcing us to look at love and in a more forced way.  Love in this passage is being looked at as unwanted where as I am so used to seeing love being an intangible thing that people yearn for. In this sense love is seen as being something to avoid. I also think that the author forces us to look at love as one sided. In this sense it is very clear that the narrator wants nothing to with love but the woman is the equation can possibly be yearning for love.

“All things therefore seemed to point to this: that I was slowly losing hold of my origin and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse. Between these two, I now felt I had to choose. My two natures had memory in common, but all faculties were must most unequally shared between them.” (48)

The beginning of “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case” leading up to this passage explores the details of Jekyll’s struggle with who he is versus who wishes to be. When he says “Between these two, I now felt I had to choose”, he realizes that it is impossible for him to continue living with both combinations of good and evil and soon or later he will be forced to choose.

“Slowly” is repeated twice, along with “two”, and between”. These words are repeated because they are significant to his current struggle. Jekyll is battling between himself and it is slowly driving him to a place where the only way the conflict can be put to rest is by choosing one or the other.

This specific passage was intriguing to me because it is very relatable to the topic of identity. When I think of Identity I think of  who I am, and when I think of who I am my thoughts  transfer to what kind of person I want to be in order to be proud with who I am. In Jekyll’s case he wants to be good but struggles internally with evil and I think we can all relate with wanting to be a certain way but struggling with road blocks that enable us to be the way we envision ourselves.