"I was the Harry Potter to my father's Voldemort"

Throughout Fun Home, Alison Bechdel references many prominent myths and works and literature that compare to her experiences and relationships. 

I was organizing my bookshelves this past week when I stumbled upon my Harry Potter books. As I painfully relived my elementary school obsession, I came to realize that Alison and Bruce's relationship actually kind of reminded me of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort's. 

Throughout Fun Home, Alison Bechdel characterizes her father, Bruce, as her polar opposite; "I was the Spartan to my father's Athenian, modern to his victorian, butch to his Nelly, utilitarian to his aesthete." However, as the story progresses, it's clear that the two are as similar as they are different. Alison and Bruce both have struggled to conform with their respective genders, and they share a mutual love for literature. In the same way, although Harry Potter and Voldemort epitomize the fight between good and evil, Harry Potter and Voldemort share common heritages, upbringings, and serpentine supernatural abilities. 

However, Alison and Bruce remind me of Harry Potter and Voldemort mostly because although both characters are intertwined, neither relationship allows for coexistence. As an infant, Harry Potter's life was saved through Voldemort's being taken. Because of this connection, it's revealed later in the series that neither of them can live while the other survives. In Fun Home, Alison and Bruce both struggle in their gender identities and yet each prevents the other from living authentically. When she's younger, Alison's femininity depends on Bruce forcing her to conform with girl-hood against her wishes. Bruce's masculinity depends on Alison in the sense that he's keeping up appearances for his family. Furthermore, in a way, Alison's very existence is a manifestation of her father's buried identity and all-around unfulfilled life. When her father (most likely) commits, Alison believes that her coming out was the cause. In other words, this is when Alison is finally embracing her authentic self and carving out her own path in life. Ultimately, their antithetic connection implies that neither Alison nor Bruce can flourish in the other's presence. 


Comments

  1. FarahApril 27, 2021 at 12:35 PM

    That is such an interesting observation about the connection between these two relationships! Given the amount of intertextuality in this book I definitely think it's fitting to look outside this novel to gain a better understanding of it. I like your observation that "neither can live while the other survives", as we can definitely see how Bruce and Alison hold each other back in many ways throughout this book. I was struggling to fully understand why Alison perceived her coming out as her father's death, but it makes a lot of sense that Alison "breaking the cycle" that she and Bruce had perpetuated her whole life could seem like the end of the world to Bruce, and ultimately be (allegedly) the cause of his death.

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  2. Raneem SaadahApril 27, 2021 at 10:27 PM

    I love this comparison! I totally see how Harry Potter and Voldemort's relationship corresponds with Alison's relationship with her father. Harry and Voldemort are different than the people around them (almost outcasts) and although the public doesn't target or bring extra attention to Alison and Bruce, they're still different than their surroundings.

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  3. eveApril 30, 2021 at 12:15 PM

    Wow this is a great post! What is compelling about Harry Potter and Voldemort's relationship is that they are very similar, and the same is true for Allison and Bruce. The only thing about the relationship that I find very different is that Voldemort is eventually cast as completely irredeemable, even though we know he has had a tough upbringing. Alison never does this, which is good, in my opinion. I wonder if Bechdel has read Harry Potter?

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  4. Lorenzo PantanoMay 6, 2021 at 6:26 PM

    Definitely, the fact that Harry and Voldemort are polar opposites but at the same time always connected is a great description of Alison's relationship with her father. As Harry goes through the books, his connection becomes increasingly apparent and noticeable, which I think is also true for Fun Home. Alison only starts to see these things later on, which is when she writes the book.

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  5. Adit's BolgMay 13, 2021 at 11:42 PM

    This is a really creative connection you find. Just as how Harry and Voldemort, while being total opposites, are connected, so are Alison and her father. They are a lot more similar than they appear. Using this metaphor is something I would've never thought of. Great work!

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