How Bruce is Portrayed

I think the most interesting part of this book was the complexity behind Alison Bechdel’s dad, Bruce. From the first page of the book, in the picture frame for chapter 1, we see him depicted as this grueling depressed man standing in front of their house in a stance that showcases power but then in the following introduction of him, we see him as a caring father figure playing with Alison (Bechdel, 1). There are countless scenes throughout the entire book that involve grief, regret, and confusion between Alison and Bruce.

During the first chapter, Bechdel gave us a good overall dynamic in her family and it was nice getting to see this through a graphic novel with so many details in every panel. Especially when it comes to depicting Bruce’s obsession with furniture and the decorations around the house. Bechdel said “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture” (Bechdel, 14). It shows anger and confusion in the way that she wishes to be the thing that he cares about like the way he renovated their home, even though that sounds outrageous. How could a father care more about re-flooring the living room instead of spending time with his kids? But at the end of chapter 1, we got to see a vulnerable side of their relationship when she deeply remembered about bath time with Bruce. Just in the first chapter alone, I feel like we got to see Bruce portrayed in so many different ways.


Throughout the later chapters of the book, I felt like there was more raw emotion that got expressed like a murder mystery. The way Alison narrated the panels but also showed so much details regarding the things that were a secret from her. When her mom told her about Bruce’s past and how Alison started to piece all the evidence together to try and understand the father she never got to really know. I think the part that spoke out the most was on page 220-221 during the only time she ever got to talk to her father about his real identity and the pain of having to hold that back his entire lifetime (Bechdel, 220-221). Despite his harsh parenting and unique disciplines growing up, I think this graphic novel was written and represented in a way that provided closure for Bechdel as she got to revisit a lot of these deep emotions about her closeted gay father.


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