Fun Home

        Throughout the second half of her graphic novel Fun Home, Alison Bechdel presents an extremely interesting narrative regarding the intersection between life and time. I believe that Bechdel makes the most poignant statement regarding time during her discussion of the calendar that she detailed her life in as a child. As Bechdel explains this, she spends a significant amount of time discussing the meaning behind the phrase “I think.” While this phrase first appears in small print, Bechdel eventually develops a symbol that she can write over the words having the same meaning. Bechdel writes, “Soon I began drawing it right over names and pronouns. It became a sort of amulet, warding off evil from my subjects”(142). A manifestation of her obsessive tendencies, Bechdel eventually came to draw this symbol over almost every word that she wrote. 

I think that this creates an important parallel with the idea of time. Keeping this journal made Bechdel extremely cognizant of the passage of time. Because she spends time detailing the actions of each day, she begins to question whether or not the events actually occurred, or if she only believes that they occurred because she perceives the situation in that way. While slightly different, this aspect of the text reminded me of our discussion regarding the linearity of time. In our society, we view time as linear because it is easiest to make sense of the events of the world in a chronological manner. However, like Bechdel’s philosophy on the phrase “I think,” this occurs simply because this is how humans choose to perceive it. In reality, the events that we experience and the way that we interpret time may be different than the way that our society chooses to define it. 


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