Coming of Age with Larissa

Fun Home  maintains a somewhat fragmented narration, with no chronological order. The book jumps from one moment to another, with Alison depicting stories from her childhood on one page and her university years on the next. There's no linear plot because the story has no conclusive ending. Not only does the book shift in time, but it also moves back and forth between Alison’s feelings of appreciation toward her deceased father, Bruce Bechdel, and her resentment and confusion toward him. By structuring the memoir out of chronological order, Bechdel highlights the complex nature of memory and grief, showing how her evolving understanding of her father shifts between admiration for his intellect and frustration over his emotional distance. I see this book as a depiction of the grieving process, whether or not that was Bechdel’s intention when writing it. Writing out thoughts and memories is a well-known coping method, and Bechdel uses this approach throughout the book. She revisits he...

Throughout The Bell Jar , Sylvia Plath portrays Esther as an unreliable narrator, often blurring the lines between reality and perception. As her depression deepens, she begins to view the world and those around her in an increasingly negative light, fixating on life’s shortcomings and the flaws of others. This makes it difficult for readers to know whether Esther’s perspective is truly accurate. Was her mother really so terrible? Was Buddy truly conniving? Was everyone around her as fake and ugly as she believed? Probably not…but that’s exactly the point. The "bell jar" of depression distorts Esther’s ability to interpret her life and social interactions clearly. Plath intentionally presents Esther’s reality in this way to convey how depression creates a sense of disconnection, confusion, and isolation. Let’s look at some instances where it’s hard to tell if Esther is really portraying an accurate sense of reality. First, there’s Buddy Willard, who Esther decides is complete...