Kala Coming of Age Novel

  Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is riddled with literary references, whether that be the chapter names, long discussions of different authors and their novels, or play performances. Throughout all of these examples, I found that escapism and idealization was pretty common among the Bechdel family in reading.  Bruce’s obsession with Fitzgerald seems to center around a desire to be like Fitzgerald’s characters in his real life. Alison describes her father as fascinated with Jay Gatsby’s dedication to illusion. A perfect image of this is Bruce’s library, on the surface a center of knowledge, but in reality a fitting encapsulation of Bruce’s fraudulence: he often uses the library to flirt with male students he was interested in all while maintaining the fake image of a straight family man. Additionally, the idea itself is taken from Gatsby’s library, filled with unread books that only serve as displays to signal that Gatsby is a knowledgeable man. Furthermore, Bruce’s early love...

  In The Bell Jar , one of the most compelling characters to Esther is Doreen. In the novel, I view Doreen as an idea of what Esther aims to be through her rebellious spirit. In The Bell Jar , Esther is repeatedly crushed and confined by overbearing expectations: expectations she has placed on herself, outside pressures to succeed and not mess up her opportunities, and pressures placed upon her by society on what a woman should be.  At the beginning of the novel, we can see that it is Doreen that encourages Esther to neglect her work so she can go out. Despite Esther knowing better, she goes along with Doreen’s idea and momentarily escapes the expectations which weigh down on her by sacrificing her work for a bit of fun. When they do go out, Doreen is beautiful and confident in herself when talking with men, a contrast to Esther. Doreen is bold in her criticisms when they talk, making fun of men who go to Yale in conversation with Esther. Doreen’s behavior makes her feel liber...