One topic which is yet to be fully discussed is that of “Fun Home”. Not the graphic memoir, of course, for that has been the basis of all of our discussion! But rather, the title of this memoir and its possible significance.
Just as every page in Bechdel’s memoir is full of tragicomic wit, so too does her title concisely and brilliantly capture her desired message. Like much of Shakespeare’s writing, the title “Fun Home” can have many different meanings. ("Click here" to see some ingenious examples of double entendre in Shakespeare.) It can be interpreted to be a short form for FUNeral home, where her father worked. (I had not made this connection myself; one day, weeks after beginning the project, my dad pointed it out to me!) It can also be referring to the “home” in which she grew up, which was anything but “fun”. This sets the sarcastic overtone of the entire novel, with two simple words! It also eludes to a Fun House, which is an obstacle course or maze found at carnivals, full of distorting mirrors and misleading paths. As if in a fun house, Bechdel’s reflection did not match who she felt she was on the inside, and her father put a misleading mask on the life he lead. Also like Shakespeare’s text, Bechdel undoubtedly intended for her title to have so many interpretations. The title “Fun Home” is just a little hors d’oeuvre before the “great feast of languages” (and graphics!) that lies ahead for the reader!
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