Turning Pages

  Gender expression plays a huge part in the relationship between Bruce and Alison in Fun Home. Bruce seems to carry a lot of shame with him as regards to his sexuality. I think one of the main reasons he is so adamant on keeping Alison as ‘feminine’ as possible is to help her avoid the same shame he carries with him everyday of his life. When I was first thinking of why Bruce didn’t want young Alison to leave the mainstream ideas of gender identity I thought it was because he was bitter and didn’t want anyone to have a good experience with expressing their gender identity because it would trigger a thought in him that his life didn’t have to turn out the way it did which would fill him with regret. But after finishing the novel I feel like Bruce’s cold and aggressive attitude towards young Alison probably stemmed from his lack of ability to connect with young children. As Alison gets older Bruce’s hostility melts away and the two grow close through their love of literature. Bruce ...

It's hard to read The Bell Jar knowing the similarities between Esther and Sylvia Plath and not make assumptions about Esther's coming of age. Ester specifically mentions how after her therapy she is no longer trapped under the bell jar but she says she is still under the bell jar and that it is lingering over her head. With admitting the bell jar still lingering over her head Esther is saying that at any point in time it can drop and her depression can once again pollute the air around her and suffocate her. With the idea that at any moment a somewhat healthy Esther can fall right back into depression I can’t help but look at Sylvia Plath and fill in the question marks of Ester’s story with what happened to Plath. The Bell Jar was written as an autobiography of sorts and in that context the reader can infer that during Sylvia's time being institutionalized she was under a bell jar, but at some point the bell jar lifted, fresh air came in and for a period of time she could...