In the comment box extend today's discussion with a response of 300 words or more. (If Blogger tells you your response is too long, split your response in two. Don't forget to compose your response in a word processing program before pasting it into the comment box. Refer to yourself by your first name and last initial.)
There are various ways you could extend the discussion: you could go deeper into something we have already talked about; you could make new connections between things we've talked about; you could delve deeply into a page, panel, or passage we have yet to discuss; you could respond thoughtfully to something someone said during the discussion.
Whatever you discuss make sure you explore, on the one hand, theme (or purpose or message) and, on the other hand, the artist's use of rhetorical and literary techniques.
For themes we talked about the relationship between appearances and reality, between surfaces and hidden depths. We talked about the relationship between parents and children (particularly fathers and daughters) in terms of influence and resistance to (and defiance of) influence, in terms of gender roles and expectations, and in terms of affection and emotional distance.
Some rhetorical and literary features and techniques we talked about were comparisons and juxtapositions that highlight meaningful similarities and differences; suggestive visual imagery, both written and drawn; other forms of indirect and direct characterization; nonlinear narrative structure; narrative reflection on events; historical and mythological allusions; narrative voice including diction, syntax, punctuation, and tone.
Go beyond our discussion. Explore. Develop.
I look forward to your responses.
Logan H.
ReplyDeleteWow. Where to start. I feel as though everything that the author puts in her words and pictures can be further explored, however I will only choose a few to more closely annotate. First off, I feel that the author is really trying to express the inner conflict that she is facing. She doesn’t know whether to resent her father, and hate him forever for not loving her the right way, or to keep trying to build a relationship with him because when he’s good, he’s really good. For example, you see that slight contrast on page 257, when you catch a glimpse of her father’s face. Though he seems to be having fun with his daughter (something that the author seems to almost live for, when she says “It was a discomfort well worth the rare physical contact, and certainly worth the moment of perfect balance when I soared above him”) you can tell by the completely un-amused and serious look on his face that there was something much deeper. Darker. The contrast is, really, the first hint at the father having psychological problems that he can’t fix. Though… the reader may not gather that at first glance. “Maybe the author just drew him like that”. But, probably not.
Another thing that I had noticed while reading the memoir was how the author somehow tried to protect her father. That’s common in abusive relationships, such as in A Child Called “It”, when the speaker feels almost obligated to protect his mother’s name because, even though she isn’t the best mom, he still loves her. It is similar to the author on page 265. Her argument justifying her father’s actions was his brilliance. She says “Daedalus, too, was indifferent to the human cost of his projects”. Her words make it seem like it’s no big deal, basically saying “He’s allowed flaws, because he’s brilliant”, when the pictures show the contradiction. There is a certain voice in the picture that tells the reader it is wrong, when the words are trying to deny it. I feel that this is also a reason why the author includes pictures in this writing at all. She has so much to say that totally contradicts itself, and if she wrote it all out the reader may not get the full picture, might not be able to see what the author was really feeling. By showing two forms of visual literature at the same time, the reader is able to gather all of the information and interpret how he or she sees it, thereby allowing the author’s full story to be portrayed.
And finally, I would like to discuss the way the author brings up important topics so nonchalantly. She speaks about some significant things in her life, things that can be traumatizing to a person, the way most people would talk about eating breakfast or the nighttime news. It was almost as if she was distancing herself to the reality of the situation. For example, on page 271, she states, “But would an ideal husband and father have sex with teenage boys?”. The impact that that sentence has on the reader is powerful precisely because she only brings it up once, almost as if it is in passing. It’s just a clear as day fact, and she might as well mention it. Another example of this is on page 277, when she says “It’s true that he didn’t kill himself until I was nearly twenty”. The fact that it was merely stated, and not brought up until the end of the chapter, has a kind of power on the reader or audience that would have been lost if the author had droned on about it. There was no dramatization in it whatsoever. Only fact. Part of the reason why I feel she writes these sentences this way is because it was her life. Not some picture book that she could put down and walk away from. It was real, and she wants to show that none of her story is fake, in hopes of gaining the reader’s trust.
Well, that’s all I’m going to make you read, even though I have so much more that I want to say.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlison Bechdel as both the author and illustrator portrays the distinction between her father and herself through context and illustration, exhibiting how his figure affected hers. A few times in the memoir, she provides frequent allusions that specifically state her subtle indications. On the second and third page of the memoir, Alison Bechdel expresses the legend of Daedalus and Icarus. Evidently in doing so, she demonstrated how the legend literally and metaphorically related to the relationship she had with her father.
ReplyDeleteThe reenactment literally related to the relationship she had with her own father because her father ironically was balancing her in the picture, while she stretched out her arms to resemble the wings that Daedalus created for his son. Simultaneously, Alison Bechdel directly stated Icarus’s fate after he disobeyed his father’s advice that ordered him to stay away from the sun. This is ironic as well, considering the direct statement she made, saying that her father was Icarus because he was the person that ended up literally falling from the sky. Reading the memoir for the first time, the reader is unable to realize the suggestion she was making until the very end when the reader discovers that her father committed suicide. However, before the reader discovered this, Alison Bechdel depicted herself as Icarus. On page 266, she found herself being isolated and affected by the good and bad changes her father had constantly. She questioned whether her father really cared for her when she walked out of the house. Moreover, whether Daedalus cared for his son when Icarus fell into the sea.
She made the choice to begin with the legend of Icarus and Daedalus and intentionally ended with the loss of her father because both share similar representations of what she felt. Alison Bechdel in the very end stated, “But I ached as if he were already gone,” reflecting on the quote she had previously stated, questioning whether her father cared for her, though in this case she considers her own feelings towards his death saying that he was gone the entire time. Metaphorically, she unwillingly realized that she felt what Daedalus felt for Icarus because her father always pushed her away, in which Icarus ignored his father’s orders to stay away from the sun and still flew near the sun and her father still pushed her away, therefore both ended up falling. Icarus fell from the sky literally and Alison’s father fell spiritually.
Kelly F.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we covered many strategies in class, there are still a few things that stood out to me in Old Father, Old Artificer that we did not talk about. We did touch upon the metaphor that Bechdel used; comparing her father and her to Daedalus and Icarus, but there were a few things I did not get to mention. First, on page 258, the author writes “Considering the fate of Icarus after he flouted his father’s advice and flew so close to the sun his wings melted, perhaps some dark humor is intended.” This seems to be a point in the memoir when her father is more like Icarus, and this quote seems to foreshadow that her father will have problems.
Something else I noticed, that I would like to point out, was on page 259. Alison writes “When other children called our house a mansion, I would demur.” She seems to think that it is unusual how perfect her house is. I feel that her father is making an illusion, to make their family seem normal. At this time, people didn’t completely accept others who were gay, so I think that making their family seem perfect, is trying to direct the attention away from him as an individual, and bring it to how they are just a normal family.
Throughout the entire memoir, we see Alison’s father’s love for interior design. I believe that this detail was to show that her father knows how to love something, and be passionate about it, but that he wasn’t sure how to do that with his family.
In class, we did talk about the sentence on page 266, that said “Was Daedalus really stricken with grief when Icarus fell into the sea? Or just disappointed by the design failure?”. Along with what was mentioned in our discussion, I didn’t have a chance to say that it seems like Alison thinks her father doesn’t care if she succeeds or fails, but he only cares how it makes him look. This makes the reader sympathize more for Alison and her brothers, and it almost forces you to dislike her father. Although each single picture in this memoir could be analyzed; these are the major things that stood out to me and helped Alison achieve her purpose.
Alison Bechdel is writing about not only her childhood but the effect of her father and his character on her childhood. He seemed to be an angry, obsessive compulsive man by the way she portrayed him throughout the comics. He needed everything to go his way and to be perfect. She often mentioned how he was not very loving or fatherly towards her and her brother; and when he was she remembers those memories perfectly. She longed for her father’s love but rarely ever got it. Her and her father disagreed on most things, such as the way her room was decorated or what she was wearing. He wanted her room to be pink and flowery and she wanted it to be anything but that. When first reading this comic it was weird to think that the dad wanted the room to be pink and girly and she didn’t. I think that because of her father’s feminine ways she became more of a tomboy. As she grew up her father’s girly ways made him into someone she didn’t want to be around too much. Between his decorating the house and perfecting the yard I believe she grew to resent her father in a way. He often got really angry at the littlest things. Once he was set off it was no fun for anyone in the house. The mom wasn’t mentioned much in this chapter of the autobiography but when she was she was usually trying to control the situations taking place in the house. Everyone was just trying to keep her father happy and not set him off. Because of this situation with her dad Alison’s whole life was affected. Her father made her see things differently and become the person that she. By reading only chapter one of her autobiography it is hard to say exactly who she is today and how she was affected but you can tell that if her father wasn’t around or was a different man then she would be a completely different person than the one she is.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter “Old Father, Old Artificer” in Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” created an interesting and depressing depiction of Bechdel’s father. All her life her father was hiding behind a gorgeous house, a well put together personal appearance, and a seemingly perfect family. In reality, he was controlling and cold. Very subtly Bechdel reveals to us who her father really was; from the very beginning, the drawings showed an unsmiling man whose eyes contained no life behind them. It was very interesting because Bechdel also began with what seemed a loving tone; “Like many fathers” makes you immediately think of any normal, caring dad, and your brain reads it to you with a fond expression. “…mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of ‘airplane’”. In the very first line of the novel, Bechdel sets you up with a warm feeling of your childhood that you transverse to her father, only to crush you down to reality when you look closer at her pictures and read the inner story going on at that moment, which tells you all is not well, that her father cannot feel that happy emotion that you are feeling. This is the underlying theme of the story; the struggle between appearance and reality. Bechdel’s father never could let go of how highly he held the value of appearance. The amount of time he spent focused on his house’s appearance, as well as his and his family’s was a ridiculous and abnormal amount for anyone. The house he worked so hard to create was a way to mask who he really was. If he ornamented his house so extravagantly, why would anybody ever think that his life was not perfect? Bechdel’s father also worked so hard on making a perfect home because he wished he could do that to himself-he knew inside that he was not perfect; he knew where his furniture really came from, and what his family was really like. But if he can buy this ramshackle old house and make it look like an ideal and dream-like mansion, perhaps he can do that to himself and to his own life. Perhaps he can rebuild himself. Creating his house was an escape from reality; he could forget who he really was and he began to believe that he really was creating a perfect image for himself, not just the house. Every addition was another improvement to his self, another layer covering up who he was on the inside. But not only did he create a seemingly perfect house, he also attempted at creating a perfect family; his children were just his own designs. He forces Alison Bechdel to wear what he wanted, to constantly do chores around the house, tearing her away from her friends. In her pictures, Bechdel shows the father taking many pictures of his family when they all look perfect before and after a regular Sunday Mass. It is an unnecessary amount of photos for one average day, and the fact that we only see him taking pictures when everyone looks perfect strengthens the assertion that appearances are very important to Bechdel’s father.
ReplyDeleteBechdel’s father literally built himself a perfect life and a perfect world. Whenever anyone else looked at it, they saw perfection. He could pretend to see perfection. His family, however, was not inside his world. With all of his creating, Bechdel’s father ignored and neglected his family, as well as his own emotions. He tried to control his family, and it suffocated them. He pushed his children away. By trying to create a perfect world, he overlooked the love that Alison Bechdel had for her father, and it hurt his children. “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” Bechdel’s father cherished the presentation that he gave, he was obsessed with it. And his children were objects in that perfect presentation. To him, they were lifeless objects that could be manipulated. He was perfect at creating an image, but the value behind the image meant nothing. He could create a perfect Christmas setting that anyone would admire, but truly it was not a perfect setting, because the process to get the family setting was not real; it was his puzzle, his game.
It was extremely frightening when the children ran from their father when he got angry. A father should be a protector, a role model. He should not be someone you feel compelled to run away from. I feel sorry for Bechdel’s father; he does not realize how to be a father, and he is unable to feel happy emotions. Alison wants to relate to her Dad. Though she tells the reader that she rebels against her father’s designs and creations in the home, she also tells us that she yearned for his love, and that his small acts of kindness were the most precious, because those were true and real. She wanted to be his daughter, she want to reach out to him. “…once I was unaccountably moved to kiss my father good night….all I managed to grab was his hand and buss the knuckles lightly…” She tried; she tried to reach out to him. He was a rock, a distant rock that she did not know how to reach. It is so unbelievably sad that he acted the way he was. This is another theme of this chapter, and a theme of Bechdel’s life; the coldness that her father exuded, affecting her life so badly. “[In my childhood] I ached as if he was already gone.” She always felt the cold absence in her heart, because her father could never reach out to her for too long. It was always an emotionless business of appearance, although nobody could feel the appearance that they were built to have.
DeleteNicole Bauke
In “Old Father, Old Artificer” the author stated things about her father by use analogies or direct statements. “My father could spin garbage… …into Gold” (Bechdel 260) by using this analogy it gives you of how good he was as an artist, he wasn’t just good, he was really, really good at art. But making the analogy gets rid of all the “really”s. on page 268 “… my father treated his furniture like children and his children like furniture” this just gives you an idea of how obsessed her dad was with making furniture and how much he cared about them. The author also references the legend of Daedalus and Icarus and in doing so she demonstrates how the legend literally and metaphorically compares to the relationship between her and her father. In the beginning of the story, the author talks about how Icarus ignored the warning from Daedalus and flew into the sun, this foreshadowed that there isn’t a solid relationship between Bechdel and her father. The author grows to resent her father and his obsession with art. In page 268, “When I grow up, my house is going to be all metal, like a submarine”. I found this part more interesting especially when Mr. Cook pointed out how the author doesn’t really think of how she is different yet similar to her father. Same in the sense that they act opposite of their gender i.e. the dad is girly, ladylike and the author is the opposite of a girl, a tomboy. Also, they are both really talented in art. Her father is very gifted using tools; she is very gifted using pen and paper. Another interesting aspect of this piece was the fact that she didn’t want us(readers) to hate her dad from the beginning of the story. Instead, she built up on the events that happened, and at the same time going deeper with the events to try and get the reader to understand her dad and the person he is. It was as if she didn’t want to force us to hate him, but to make us choose to hate him. The tone was a lot of dark humor.
ReplyDeleteWe talked about how the father was more like a shadow to the children than an actual father. He was around, sure, but he never really acted the part of a father. He played games with them, but was never happy about it, and would always go right back to worrying about his house instead of paying attention to his children. In the illustrations on 263, 265, 266, 267, 270, 272, and 275 he appears as a shadow, and is the only character to do so (except for when everyone else is a shadow with him on 272, and on the last page when the author is in the background. But it could be said that in her being a shadow, she is forgotten by her father in favor of the house, once again.)
ReplyDeleteThe father being violent and abusive could also tie in with this. Shadows are thought of to be ominous and looming, so when he appears as such it could show that the children were afraid of him. They thought he was only there to observe and keep them in check. He’s there, but not fully. He’s only a shadow in their lives until he shows his anger.
Nice pick up on that Sydney 8) Good point!
DeleteAlison Bechdel, author of Old Father, Old Artificer, compares her relationship with her father to the story or Daedelus and Icarus. She compares her father to Daedelus, Icarus, and the Minotaur. He father was Daedelus, a hard worker who made things better. Daedelus, like her father, cared about his work above everything else. The author asked if Daedelus cared that his son died or if he cared more that his invention failed. She feels as if her father cares more about working around the house then his kids. Bechdel’s father was Icarus because he was the one who fell with the faulty wings. The father felt as if he was the one who was faulty, he wasn’t made correctly. He was made a homosexual, different from most people. The father could also be the Minotaur because he was the monster in his kid’s lives. He abused them and made them work on a task he enjoyed more than them. He was also the Minotaur because he was stuck in the labyrinth, lost and not in control of what is going on. He controlled his kid’s lives because he felt as if he wasn’t in control of his own, because of his sexuality. Bechdel said, “And of course, my brothers and I were free labor, Dad considered us extensions of his own body, like precision robot arms.” (267) The father made his kids work on what he loved like Icarus helped his father with the inventions. Alison Bechdel could also have been Icarus, she was always loved less than her father’s work, she was trapped with Daedelus, her father, inside of the labyrinth and her only chance of getting out was with his help. Alison Bechdel used the Greek Myth of Daedelus and Icarus to how her life worked, without having to say it out straight.
ReplyDeleteWhile reflecting on Friday’s seminar I noticed a panel we did not come across that caught my eye when I was reading. Page 268 at the bottom brought even more irony into the chapter. The author writes “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children and his children like furniture. My own decided preference for the unadorned and purely functional emerged early.“ In the picture there is a voice bubble when the speaker says “When I grow up my house is going to be all metal, like a submarine.” I thought this voice bubble was very ironic. The way she sees her own home is as a jail. By saying things like “I hate this room” and “I HATE pink” the reader can tell it is impersonal to her and not a home to her, and just a place she has to stay until she is old enough to leave. The fact that she wants her future home to be made of all metal, like a jail cell, or a confined and impersonal area, shocked me. It is ironic that she doesn't want a beautiful home like she already has, and that a beautiful home to her is made of metal, and also that the most impersonal home would be considered personal to her. It is apparent from the heading of these two panels that it is the fathers fault the speaker has this outlook. He is making a beautiful home and a miserable family at the same time. The father created this jail for his family and this is probably another reason the author resents her father, and is able to blame him for a lot of negative childhood memories. Instead of being a father he is like a jail warden, making the home an impersonal place by controlling everything, and letting his temper get to him whenever something doesn't go right like on page 265 when the Christmas tree falls. He isn't reassuring or understandable like an average father would be, he is angry and terrifying. These panels on page 268 show another way how the daughter-father relationship is negatively developed and not a good one.
ReplyDeleteEmily M.
In the chapter of Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, Old Father, Old Artificer, she compares her father to 3 Greek myths, Daedelus, Icarus, and the Minotaur. Not only did she compare these to her father, but she was also able to see that she could be compared to Icarus as well. The fact that Bechdel was able to see that she was just like Icarus as her dad was made it really poignant to the reader. Throughout the entire chapter Becdel just talks about what her father was like numbly; just with facts and feelings not attached. The reader just assumed that since she was speaking of her father to nonchalantly, and factually that there was no way that the two could be similar. She always spoke of their differences; her father needed a clean, antique house, while Bechdel hated it. She hated having a large overly ornate house, she just wanted to live normally as her friends. Then there is the obvious that separates her and her father. He was a gay man who was never able to share with them how he felt, so instead he lived aesthetically through the house and its content. In being able to see the similarities between herself and her tough father the reader can see that over time she grew up. She no longer resented what her father did, instead she was able to relate to him. That is something that a child could never come back 100% from, but Bechdel was able to put it aside and realize that her and her father were not as different as she had originally thought.
ReplyDeleteOn Friday we talked about the 1st chapter in "Old Father, Old Artificer". The analysis the class put together, mainly focused on the subject of the father's sexuality. In my opinion the main purpose of this chapter was to open up into the fact her father was there, but wasn't really. Numerous times she goes from what seems to be good situations to how they are really bad. Going from being close playing games, too how that is the only way they have physical contact with each other. As she grows up things at home just get worse and situations that come off little are big in her house. The arguments and dirty looks just add up to create a barrier. The barrier is set between the daughter and father, and everyone can tell it's there. Growing up thinking your father treats his furniture better than you is terrible. Felling that way will just add to the sadness and create a fog over her father's figure. At the end of the chapter she talks as if her dad actually died, but as I read on the concept of death was emotional. Years and years after the occurrence of same situations it left the author drained. Her father was dead to her. Words the author adds into the script gives an example of what communication was like in that household. Yelling was their way of talking, and when the kids were yelled at it was an awakening to me. It made me realize that one little fight with my dad is nothing; some people have a dad but he isn’t really there in the long run. Going back to situations she experienced growing up, in a way made the reader relive her life. Adding in actual facial expressions and the creation of irony exposed by the shadow in the father figure speaks for itself. Life was tough for her, and sadly in the end life finished the way her father was trying to make it the whole time. Family faded, and emotion became invisible.
ReplyDeleteThe main topic during our class discussion was how the author, Alison Bechtel, of Old Father, Old Artificer uses indirect characterization throughout the chapter. When Emily said that both the pictures and the words hint at the father’s homosexuality, especially when he wears short shorts, and when he puts on bronzer, this is a very large idea to grasp. It is also very important to the overall theme and purpose of the book, indirect characterization occurs frequently throughout the chapter and it is also mixed in with direct characterization, an example of direct characterization would be on page 271 “But would an ideal husband and father have sex with teenage boys.” The use of both direct and indirect characterization leads readers to the realization of the father’s homosexuality and how it affects his whole family especially his daughter. Direct and indirect characterization is used not only for her father but also for her own characterization, for example on page 269 when she says “I was Spartan to my father’s Athenian Modern to his Victorian Butch to his Nelly” she is trying to get the point that she felt that she was braver and stronger than her father who was more artsy and delicate. Throughout the text the author uses both indirect and direct characterization to show important points and things that define different members of her family’s personality and views, that are extremely important for the book as a whole.
ReplyDeleteWhile we covered many subjects in our classroom analysis of “Old Father, Old Artificer,” a chapter of a graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, one of the things that we didn't talk about was her father's facial expression throughout the chapter. No matter the circumstances, he always remains stone-faced and passive. The only time his deadpan expression changes into an almost-smile is when he brings home a chandelier that his wife had explicitly stated that she didn't like. I think that this is an important decision on the illustrators part because, even if we hadn't been able to read about Bechdel's father, we would be able to get a feel of his personality. He doesn't seem to be very emotional, and is often passive and detached. The drawings help readers understand her father's personality more. I also noticed, while reading this chapter, that Bechdel often draws in certain images that readers would be able to relate to. For example, there's the spray can cleaner, which, if you combine two of the images, shows to be the brand “Pledge.” Also, there's the screen shot of Sesame St. that's on the television that the kids are watching. Finally, Bechdel sketches in the titles of the books that her father is reading throughout the chapter. These decisions make the book feel all the more real. Readers can connect to the family more, knowing that they buy, watch, and read the same things that we do. It's an interesting strategy of Bechdel's to include these images. Lastly, one of the lines that stuck out the most for me while reading this chapter was the one on page 270: “He used his skillful artifice not to make things, but to make things appear to be what they were not.” This line reminds me a bit of the chapter itself and of Bechdel's tone. While, at first, she makes it seem as if she is writing a humorous, family piece, she slowly peels back the layers and shows the true colors of her family, and that it wasn't as perfect as it appeared to be. Her writing style is similar to her father's building: she has the ability to make things appear different than how they are.
ReplyDeleteZach S.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “Old Father, Old Artificer” the author deals with the heavy subject of her father. We analyzed this topic in class and discovered some deep things about the text that I had not realized before.
One thing I had noticed was the way the author referred to her father. The constant reference to him being a Greek mythological mastermind created an ever flowing stream of reference to get her major point across: the mastery of her father’s art that would eventually become a downfall in his life. His famed skill with style and design of his home and family reminiscent of Daedalus’ mastery of technology and ingenuity. Bechdel tells us as her readers that there were multiple instances where her father uses this skill: pulling a piece of trash out of a dump and turning it into an amazing headboard, impressing his sister, designing his daughter’s room and controlling how she dresses. But everything good has its price. The father is a perfectionist filled with self loathing due to his homosexuality. This makes him an angry man and a scary father who, under the slightest issue (such as a vase being moved or a slip that caused one of his sons to drop the tree) will become abusive. Under such circumstances his children will flee the house to avoid harm such as a young Alison did on that fateful Christmastime day. This was the ingenuity that put Daedalus in the labyrinth, these were the wings that made his son plummet to his death. But it was not all bad as she reveals- they sometimes did play the airplane game and Bechdel remembers those times when her father would give her baths- fond memories that made their relationship bittersweet through good times and bad.
The Graphic story about the father had many points in which the father was shown in a light that shows the reader how wrong the children were treated. The author shows that the father is really just a facade like Michael said. He thinks that appearance more important than anything else. He appears to be a good father and to have the perfect family just like the house appears perfect. This analogy is shown on page 271 that it showed the house as a "museum" but then it said that the "period rooms" showing that like the dad it looked like it was one thing but in reality it was not. It is also shown on page 274 when the lady almost walked into a mirror and it was just an illusion of what was really there, just like how the dad is an illusion of a good father but in reality he abused his children. This was also shown on page 272 where the vase was barely out of place and the dad grabbed his child and hit her. The father wanted to look like he was rich and perfect even though he was anything but. He would make things from trash look like gold. This was an analogy of how he looked perfect but he was actually only trash as Cara had said in class, but this also is analogy in that trash is not completely bad but as the dad had used the trash to make something nice out of the father also had his good moments, such as page 275 where it was shown that sometimes the father would be nice to his children but that was only a glimmer in the dark. Together it was clear that the author was showing the father as an abusive father and used many things from his life to show that.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of “Old Father Old Artificer” that I would like to take a moment to discuss is the father's need for control. A family is supposed to work as a team, an unbreakable unit. It should be expected that each family will have their quarrels, but all in all they should be able to get along and discuss things and make decisions together. The father in this graphic novel, however, does not treat his family as his equals. He treats them like they are far below him, and in reference to his children, often like slaves. Right from the second page, the reader sees what a demanding person the father is when, after a few seconds of playful “airplane,” he notices the rug is dirty, and tells his daughter to go get a vacuum cleaner. This hard contrast between a loving moment and a distant one affects the reader in a way that allows him or her to relate to what the author must have gone through during those times of rejection. Later in the excerpt, the daughter is shown while being told to go home by her friend's mother, because her father wants her back to work. Parents should not be so controlling of their children's lives. Kids need to play and learn how to make friends, but if they are never allowed their own free time, they will never learn those life skills. Also, the father's idea of “work” was very rarely necessary. The father was trying to force his hopes and dreams for the house onto his kids, which is, of course, ridiculous, since I don't know of any small child who greatly concerns themselves with the architectural aesthetics of their house. Decisions about what the daughter does with her free time should be her's, and not her father's.
ReplyDeleteYet another example of this control is when the father designs the girl's room for her. He puts up pink wallpaper, even though the girl explicitly says that she hates pink. It's no wonder that the girl learned to despise her own home so much. The daughter's lack of comfort in her own home is really quite sad. A home should be like a sanctuary, especially when it comes to an individuals own room. A home should be where you know you can always return and be safe and where there will always be people who love you. And a room should be a place where one can relax and enjoy being alone. Her father, with his need to control everything, takes away the existence of that sanctuary. So much so, that the author compares her own house to a labyrinth, and she a poor maiden trying to escape. The last example of control that I'd like to bring up is a scene where the father purchases a new chandelier. One picture shows the father pointing out the light fixture in a magazine to his spouse. The wife obviously disapproves, but the next panel show the father smirking with satisfaction and holding up the lamp that he had wanted to purchase. One has to wonder how much he really wanted that chandelier, and how much he really simply wanted the power of being able to by that chandelier. The author wrote, “We each resisted in our own ways, but in the end we were equally powerless before my father's curatorial onslaught.” It seems as though the father coveted this hidden form of control. He wanted to be ruler of the house, even if his single house was all that was within his reign. Considering the lack of control he was given with respect to the rest of his life, it's easy to see where his desires may have originated. After all, the father was a closeted gay. He was unable to truly express himself. Not only could he not show who he truly was, but he had to act like his polar opposite. Every family picture, every peck on the cheek, every loving gesture must have been a physical pain for him. And while he was wrong to take out his aggression on his children, knowing his secret does allow the reader to feel a certain amount of sympathy for the man. After all, wouldn't we all be wishing for a bit of control if society wouldn't allow us to be ourselves?
Diana D.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter of the memoir, Alison Bechdel illustrated her rather complex relationship with her father. One of the most notable characteristics of the father was the distance from his family that his passion caused. An example of this is on page 258 when he ignored his daughter’s request to continue playing with her because of his fixation with keeping the house perfect. Bechdel highlights this distance throughout the memoir by using showing specific characteristics about her father such as the lack of a first name and the lack of interaction between her parents. His overall distance from the family is illustrated through Bechdel’s multiple use of her father’s silhouette and his violent outbursts. Up until the church scene Bechdel left the audience with a rather unlikable portrayal of her father. After learning of his homosexuality, suddenly the reason behind her father’s distance became clear. He never grew apart from his family; he was never truly there to begin with. His obsession with restoring tattered and worn objects stemmed from his desire to hide this, at the time, unaccepted aspect of himself. The mirror motif throughout the memoir represented his desire to appear perfectly normal. We only saw the father’s reflection once despite the abundance of mirrors in the home.
On another note, Bechdel also alluded to was the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin through the phrase “could spin garbage into gold”. Besides the obvious parallel the father’s talent for restoration, this also hints towards the fact the “gold” is only shiny garbage. Unfortunately this extra tidbit is only noticeable to those who have read the versions of Rumpelstiltskin in which the gold reverts back to straw in the end. In a way the story of Rumpelstiltskin also mimics the story of Bechdel’s father; he can be placed into the roles of Rumpelstiltskin, the miller’s daughter, the king, and the miller.
There are several things I would like to address further about Alison Bechdel’s memoir. We mentioned a lot of different things in this Old Father, Old Artificer chapter that were very enriching in a… unique way. There are many tricky concepts in this memoir, and several avenues could have been explained in more detail.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the excess amount of mirrors in Alison’s house, I think her father has a dual purpose for putting them up. One reason could be that even though he has more than enough mirrors, he is constantly rearranging them (page 268, 270) perhaps because he is trying to change the way he sees himself. Especially for her father, the mirrors seem to reflect more significantly what he wants to see, which is sort of ironic if he is so disappointed with himself (274 top left panel). On the other hand, Alison relates her house to the labyrinth in Greek mythology and the mirrors express false appearances; lies (274 bottom right, 270 top right).
I also wanted to stress the fact that towards the end of the chapter, Alison deeply signifies how much her dad was withering away from the rest of the world. An example of this may be found on page 275 when he throws his plate in an outburst of anger. Then on the last page where Alison illustrates how her father only died in his physical form since throughout her life he was so distant it was as if he was already dead. During these last few panels Alison looks at her dad as if to get his attention but after he teaches her to ride the tractor he turns his back to her signifying the separation and distance. This chapter of Alison’s memoir makes me wonder what her dad’s childhood was like and if that was the reason he became the “minotaur”. Alison’s memoir gives a lot of reasons to support how much your childhood can impact you for the rest of your life.
Cara O.
ReplyDeleteIn class, we talked a lot about indirect characterization of the author’s father. For example, the father’s interests, physical appearance, personality, and behavior led us all to believe that he was unattached, selfish, and possibly gay. In class, we noticed how the father was never seen smiling at any time. However, on page 267 in the bottom right panel, the father looks somewhat satisfied. He is examining a chandelier that the whole family hates. The only happiness he feels seems to be in response to his obsession with household décor. The reader can truly see the type of person he is because of his expressions during different times in the story. In the beginning of the story, the father is playing airplane with his child. Even then, there is no hint of happiness on his face. Most parents find joy in spending time with their children, but this father appears to be emotionless. He has no interest in his kids, and he only cares about his decorations. Another factor that characterized the father indirectly was the way the daughter behaved and appeared. In comparison, they are complete opposites. The daughter seems tomboyish and dislikes girly things. She dresses more like a boy than her father, who wears extremely short shorts and bronzer. If one can imagine the personality of the author, then it is possible to see the father’s as the exact opposite.
Although the author never truly reveals that the father is abusive, the reader can assume that he is. On page 266, 272, 275, and 276, there are all examples of abusive behavior. The author never uses the word “abuse”, and that might be because children never see their parents has harmful, or at least do not want to believe that they are. The author also never states that her father is a homosexual, but there are clues throughout the story that confirm the reader’s suspicions. The fact that the father is so obsessed with decorating the house is the first thing that is noticed. That sounds stereotypical, but the level of interest that the father has for décor exceeds most people’s. The author states that her parent’s have a theoretical cooperative relationship that actually isn’t cooperative at all. The father controls everything, and doesn’t show any affection for the mother at any time in the story. On page 270, he is seen applying bronzer. The author is standing in the doorway saying, “Mom says hurry up.” Normally you would expect the daughter or mother to be in the bathroom applying makeup and making everyone else late. Finally, the strongest indirect characterization is on page 271. The family is at church and the speaker is saying, “But would an ideal husband and father have sex with teenage boys?” The father is also looking at a group of boys on the left side of the panel. This automatically makes the reader think that the author is describing something that the father may have done. Indirect characterization such as this can help a reader form the personality of a character without being given facts and details about that character.
Christina S.
ReplyDeleteIn class we touched on the subject of mirrors, but I didn't feel as though we talked about them enough. I counted a total of twelve mirrors in this chapter, which is a lot for one house. Alison Bechdel’s father was obsessed with appearances, otherwise he wouldn’t have put so much effort and passion into decorating and remodeling the house. Placing giant mirrors everywhere reflected the beauty of his creation, and also turned the house into a maze. He wanted guests to focus on the ornate details of his work to distract them from the family dynamics, which were clearly not healthy. Mirrors are only capable of showing outward appearances. With this in mind, we can assume that Bechdel’s father wanted to constantly see his own reflection in order to forget about his secrets and the turmoil he faced every day. He probably wanted his wife and kids to see this too, and forget about their own struggles within the family. This was the only way he knew how to avoid the minotaur and survive the labyrinth.
The theme of Greek myths was also a reoccurring one. Bechdel’s father was compared to Daedalus, the ingenious inventor. He rebuilt the house as a way to distract himself from his inner conflicts, but quickly became trapped in the labyrinth himself. He could never stop redecorating or cleaning, because it was the only thing he felt he was in control of. He is also compared to Icarus, Daedalus’ son, because Icarus fell to his doom as a result of one of his father’s inventions. The work around the house is consuming Bechdel’s father as he becomes more obsessive. Bechdel alludes to the fact that her father commits suicide when she is twenty years old. Finally, he is compared to the minotaur, the monster of Daedalus’ invention that lives in the labyrinth. Bechdel’s father feels trapped by social norms and the role he had to play in his family, and the house is the physical representation of that. He becomes angry and treats his wife and children like they’re worthless. All of the emotional pain has built up inside him, but ultimately he did this to himself by burying his feelings in his work.
In the chapter “Old Father, Old Artificer” of the book in “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel, Bechdel highlights the relationship between her and her father. Her father, a perfectionist of sorts and a closeted gay man who eventually kills himself, had such a strange way of dealing with everything. His craft was architecture; he put his mind and soul into making his house perfect and absolutely spotless, even at the cost of his relationship with his family. He decorates the house with everything: lavish items to items that he found in the dumpster, spruced up, and used in her room. She refers to these items, like tassels, candles, and such as useless. She also called it a museum; where everything that is the best is on exhibit and display. To me, it seems like Alison is characterizing the house. The house is parallel to her family, it’s a metaphor of what her father does. He cheated on his wife with another man, and he stays (or, that is, stayed around, until he committed suicide) around trying to make things work and fixing things up. The house was once broken like the family was, but he managed to make it appear better. He does this to the family by almost controlling them. For example, he has good fashion taste and he doesn’t let his daughter wear things that don’t match even if she wants to. In family pictures, everything has to be perfect his way; the clothes, the scenery, etc. His house is a work of art just like his method of making the family appear almost perfect on the outside, despite the underlying problems. He wasn’t necessarily a bad father; he did tried fixing up what he could, despite problems with his partner and the pressure he felt raising them after he cheated on his wife.
ReplyDeleteAlison Bechdels depiction of her childhood life in her graphic novel Old Father, Old Artificer is incredibly thoughtfully and bluntly written. She brusquely describes the way he could be the kindest of fathers but more likely the Minotaur that wanders the labyrinth of her house. Bechdel seems to have a soft spot for Greek mythology as she launches metaphor after metaphor at the reader concerning Daedalus, his doomed son Icarus, the ancient Minotaur of the Labyrinth, and the comparison of the rough Spartans and the thoughtful Athenians. For those familiar with the ancient myths, the metaphors are a very accurate portrayal of her father. Daedalus with his obsessive behavior of flight and the endless maze to house the freakish bull- man hybrid for the king is easily compared to Alisons fathers’ uncountable amount of hours put into restoring their Victorian-era house. She even goes as far as to say that Daedalus had no concern for his son when he plummeted to the sea but only saw that as a failure in design (266). Her father certainly had no concern for his children seeing as he abused them regularly in fits of rage and basically used them for slave labor to restore his master piece, his house. Many of Bechdels illustrations show her and her siblings cleaning, organizing and working around the house a majority of the time. Bechdel is never entirely pleased about this situation either. Bechdel accurately portrays her father as the looming shadow of the Minotaur within her home within the maze-like house covered in countless mirrors and passageways. In many of the pages, the fathers face isn’t shown and is only a silhouette commanding his “precision robot arms” (267). Was he truly representative as a father figure in his home or was he merely a placebo for the picture perfect scene as well. He saw his children and wife as a part to the completion but what about himself? Was he also a mere blot of paint to complete the scene?
ReplyDelete-Liz Murphy
One of the main things that I noticed repeatedly throughout chapter one of “Old Father, Old Artificer” that we touched on briefly in class, was how the father treated his daughter much like a servant. It starts in the beginning and continues throughout much of the chapter. On page 258 the father says, “This rug is filthy. Go get the vacuum cleaner.” Also on that page he says, “And then get me my tack hammer. That strip of molding is loose.” From these two quotations, it is perceived that he takes away time being spent with his daughter by creating perfection within the house. By doing this he forgets his daughter is his daughter and bosses her around, because his mind is focused on one thing only: the house. Again on the next page, 259, her father says, “Send Tammi home. You have work to do.” He follows that up by saying, “Wash these old curtains...” Constantly the father is telling his daughter what to do to help him. The author acknowledges this on page 267, “And of course, my brothers and I were free labor...In this regard, it was like being raised not by Jimmy but by Martha Stewart.” To further elaborate this reoccurring theme, the author states on page 268, “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” It seems the lack of emotion he has for his children is put into his obsession with furniture and architecture. He cares less for human compassion and more for the absolute perfection that architecture and interior design can provide him with.
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ReplyDeleteOlivia P.
ReplyDeleteIn "Old Father, Old Artificer" by Allison Bechdel, the author shows her audience the connection between her father and herself, when growing up as a child. In class, we reviewed many topics and key points of the chapter, but one specific point Bechdel made, that stuck out to me, was the abuse.
I questioned if the father did it, to get rid of the unhappiness that was building up inside of him, from his second life. If that was his escape, physically taking out his emotional sadness on the children.It also made me wonder if that was the rhetorical purpose Bechdel was using to get rid of her sadness, to almost write a memoir about her life. To literally lift the weight off of her shoulders. Maybe that was the connection the two had. Not being able to get rid of the sadness, and needing an alternative way to clear their head.
Another form of abuse I picked up on, was the neglect the father had for his kids. That towards the end of the chapter, it didn't matter that he physically had died, his presence had already faded. She quotes, "but I ached as if he were already gone," implying that absence that was never filled. The void of a father, and loved one that was never there. It makes me question the "idealism" of her father, because although he was very anal and a perfectionist, his life itself was slowly but surely withering away.
The last form of abuse that stuck out to me was the verbal abuse. Never saying "I love you," and constantly barking orders is no way to show affection, especially for your children. He constantly is using words like "dammit" in an angry tone, and not giving the love and affection needed, which could be an effect from his past childhood problems? Only to create future problems for his children, from growing up with such neglect.
We discussed many pages during the class Socratic seminar but, one that we did not go very in depth into was page 275. In the page Alison Bechdel is contrasting her father’s outburst of rage with his acts of kindness these acts caused the author to have deep conflicting feelings about her father. These ties into the theme of parents influencing children with his random acts of rage and kindness the author’s father is influencing her. At a young age he makes her think that it was acceptable to(as shown in the panel) smash a plate on the floor in rage, as long as you also did some good things as well like read a bedtime story to your daughter. Bechdel uses color in the panels on page 275 to visually show the contradiction between her father’s actions. The panel at the top of the page she depicts her father dressed in white a color usually associated with purity, calmness, and goodness but, in panel he is angrily throwing a pate on the ground an act of aggression. She is creating a complex and conflicting image which parallels the author’s complex relationship with her father.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed many different themes of the book in class but one that we did not thoroughly analyze was the reversal of gender roles between the author and her father. She visually represents this by portraying her father in many panels wearing short shorts a very effeminate piece of clothing, while showing herself wearing pants a very masculine article of clothing. She also shows the different activities that her and her father do, in one panel on page 269 she shows her father reading an art book about nude men, again a more feminine action, and she is playing soldier in the background an extremely manly activity. The author also portrays this reversal of roles in the text in one excerpt her father is angry at her for wearing clothes that don’t match and she doesn’t care, usually its men that don’t care about fashion and women that do care. Throughout the chapter Bechdel uses contrasting images and diction to really many different themes and messages and to really articulate and depict the complex relationship she had with her father.
Some businessmen gain notoriety by neglecting family over work but his guy thinks his architecture-hobby-thing is his life. He was a perfectionist, and enforced it on his kids too. When they didn’t live up to his expectations, he didn’t like them as much. Architecture on the other hand, would respond to his every whim, and would become how he envisioned them to be in a perfect life. They were much more malleable, so to speak, than kids that had their own mind. In a way, these inanimate objects replaced the kids in him.
ReplyDeletePerfection was his obsession but his words ‘slightly perfect’ when decorating a room betray the fact that he was never content with anything. He was always looking for something that would complete the picture-but he did not know what it was himself. He made the house a labyrinth, designed to keep secrets in and snoopers out. He’s a martyr because no one understood him, even his wife. No one wants him working around the house like a psycho so he has had to do it all alone, and judging from the pictures, he didn’t hire anyone, rather he used his kids as extensions of himself.
Sometimes, perhaps after he’s done whatever he’s done, he gives a shot at acting the father, displaying rare acts of caring for the kids that make him seem almost normal. And I guess it worked to some extent at least for the author, because apparently she liked him.
The other problem with the guy is his tendency to objectify people. He is obsessed with appearance, décor, etc, and cannot walk out of the house without offering critiques on his family’s fashion as well. He is also sensitive to how people look at him, which is evident in the scene where he changed his tie because something the kid said…..
Dialogue is always spoken through closed lips-just wanted to throw that in.