Cate's Coming of Age Novel Blog

  Throughout the story “Fun Home” we see Alison’s father Bruce prevent her from expressing her true identity. On page 15 Alison compares herself to her father using terms like, “Butch to his nelly”, and “I was Spartan to my Father’s Athernian”. These terms show how polar opposite they were, we also see this in the scene where he is telling her to change her outfit. This connects to Bruce’s need to be in control. Alison also talks about Bruce’s obsession with the house and furniture, and this connects to him controlling her. On page 14 Alison describes this relationship, “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” This quote shows how Alison felt controlled by Bruce, like he wanted her to look nice and play the part. This is also shown through a quote on page 16, “He used his skillful artifice not to make things, but to make things appear to be what they were not.” Bruce made Alison appear to be a super feminine girl thr...

  In the poem “Daddy” Sylvia Plath writes of her father who died when she was young, but even further she writes of another man in her life, her husband. Towards the end of the poem it can be read as her finding a husband like the memories of her father. “I made a model of you, A man in a Meinkampf look”. I think in some ways this was Plath’s way of continuing her father’s legacy and keeping his memories alive.  Sadly, by the end of the poem, it no longer feels as though Plath is reminiscing about her father; rather it feels as though she is blaming him for the depression she has experienced throughout her life. The last stanza reads, “There’s a stake in your fat black heart And the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you. Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through”. When listening to Plath read this stanza in class, you could feel the anger and frustration in her voice. I believe that if we use “The Bell Jar” as an autobiograp...