Unpacking Alison’s Obsession with Bruce’s Death
Unpacking Alison’s Obsession with Bruce’s Death
From the beginning of the novel, Alison makes it clear to the reader that her father’s death was no accident (Bechdel 27). She specifies that he killed himself, citing the various novels he was reading from authors such as Camus or Proust, claiming them as hints of his decision. Most importantly, however, she theorizes on the cause of his “suicide.” At first, she believed she was the cause of his death, through her coming-out to her parents a few weeks prior (Bechdel 87). Next, she attributes it to the divorce that her mother had asked her father for also not long before the accident. It is not the theories themselves that are revealing of the “truth”, but the fact that Alison is theorizing at all.
Her mother and brothers believe Bruce’s death was truly an accident, yet after all these years, Alison refuses to agree with them. Perhaps it is a matter of sustained grief: a common way of dealing with unforeseen circumstances is trying to understand their origin. Why did this happen? Could I have stopped it? Could I have caused it? These were all potential questions running through Alison’s head. However, her obsession runs deeper than simple speculation.
As it is slowly revealed throughout the book, Alison and her father have much more in common than Alison had realized growing up. For one, they are both adept at “hiding” themselves. Bruce maintains an image of his perfect family despite their lack of genuine connections; Alison hides her emotions quite often with her parents, rarely speaking out against their failing marriage, or her father’s borderline abusive behavior. Their similarities coalesce with their sexualities, as Alison discovers upon coming out to her parents that her father is also homosexual. In hindsight, their parallels reflect this revelation. Alison presents as more masculine than the typical “girl”, opting to play sports and wear boys clothes rather than skirts or dresses. On the other hand, Bruce often leans into femininity, mostly through creative lenses. His main passion is house decorating, though he also dabbles in fashion and photography.
This shared trait among them may truly define Alison’s preoccupation with her father’s death. Her father was by no means a copy of her, but was in some ways a mirror image, especially in terms of sexual identity. With his death, Alison lost all possibility of understanding the mirror-image side of her father. As a result, she became obsessed with the circumstances surrounding his death, potentially as a coping mechanism, but also as an outlet to not only discover parts of her father in more depth, but also parts of herself.
I agree with the idea of her having a sustained grief after her father's death and placing that in the realm of her not accepting his death as an accident. Perhaps the other family members were far quicker to dismiss his death as an accident because they didn't have the connection that Alison had with him or the level of reflection that she had. Honestly, it is plausible that the death was a suicide especially with the life events that led up to it.
ReplyDeleteHi Ella, I never really thought about Alison writing this book as a way to grieve her father’s death. It does make sense how Alison trying so hard to find a reason for her fathers death could be a way of her grief as she does accuse herself at first, then her moms divorce, and then gathering evidence to say it is suicide. Unfortunately, we will never found out as it is one of the greatest mystery of the book. But I don’t think the book was her way of popping as she reflected on the good and bad experiences of her dad and maybe brought some conclusion to her life on her dads death.
ReplyDeleteHi Ella, I found it very interesting how the fact that Alison is theorizing over Bruce's death is almost more important than the truth of his death. The tensions in the family and the complex parallel's between Bruce's and Alison's life made their relationship so distant and intimate at the same time. When Bruce dies, Alison's million questions of their relationship will forever remain unresolved. In that sense, theorizing his suicide becomes her attempt to sort through her grief and their relationship. Anyway, great blog :DD
ReplyDeleteHi Ella, I love the idea that Alison is using her father's death as a way to learn more about herself. It's also a really good point that because she's theorizing so much as a coping mechanism, potentially, and kind of lets his death affect her reality afterwards. Wonderful job!! You made really awesome points :)
ReplyDeleteIt is true that all of our evidence for doubting Alison's version of Bruce's death ALSO come from Alison, but it's also true that the book more or less progresses as if there's no real question around it: it's a suicide, and specifically it has to do with Alison and her coming-out in some complex way. It is fascinating to consider how the rest of her own family doesn't seem compelled by this interpretation, and among the many family secrets that were revealed by the author when this book was published, we should include the "news" that Bruce's death is a suicide. Almost thirty years after the fact, Bechdel's "graphic memoir," which got a LOT more attention than Bruce's obituary would have gotten in 1980, offers an entirely new interpretation of the facts. It's clear that Alison WANTS to understand her father's death as having something to do with her, and she's quite open about the possibility that she is projecting this interpretation rather than "discovering" it. And yet, most readers, when asked to summarize, would say that it's a book about a young woman who comes out as lesbian and her closeted father takes his own life. The story gets meaning from this connection, whether it's "real" or not.
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