Mental Illness Or Borderline Personality Disorder In Fun Home By Alison Bechdel

House Of Cards We come into this world like a ball of clay ready to be molded into a work of art. Our parents are often our biggest influences. We often learn our values and morals from our parents. Our temperament and what we learn is acceptable in terms of our behavior is learned and molded by our environment. If we are raised by well adjusted stable parents, we have an easier time adjusting to the adult world. When we are raised by someone who has unresolved personal issues from their past or has a personality disorder it is only then when the ball of clay can become a distorted version of its intended vision. Mental Illness or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is still taboo to talk about in our society. BPD is defined by the

Bruce runs a funeral home and restores his families old victorian home as a personal hobby and passion. Behind the “perfect” family facade you will find that Bruce is a deeply troubled man. He struggled as an adolescent with his sexual identity and carried the anger and frustration this caused into his adulthood. This created issues in his marriage and caused him trouble connecting with his children. In this book we see how a child who is growing and developing is repeatedly subjected to rejection, outburst of anger, and isolation by her father and the effect it has on who she becomes. As you read Fun House you can see Bruce display BPD symptoms and how it effects his relationship with his wife and

Alison Bechdel states in a Boston Globe article (2017) “Alison Bechdel, bringing it all back ‘Home’” “I thought that I had worked it all out in the book, “ she says. “But seeing this play has had a cathartic effect.” The skeletons no doubt, are out of the closet.” Fun Home shows how as the reader we can become educated and heal from the stories like that of Alison Bechdel’s childhood. We also can see Alison’s journey of healing as well. This full circle journey is why literature is so versatile and important to our society and culture. We depend on the creation and growth of literary themes like the ones we see in Fun House to help us grow and deal with the real world. I have experience with a narcissistic father and a mother with BPD. While reading Fun House I empathized with Alison Bechdel. I sat and reflected on my own upbringing and found many similarities. I found myself rethinking impactful events from my childhood and having a different point of view after reading this