Matthew Stebbins

Professor Kashtan
ENG 112
10/5/15
Cover Letter
Throughout the process of writing this paper I began to understand why Alison Bechdel
chose to tell her story through a graphic novel. Her story is one that needed illustration for the
audience to completely understand the setting and meaning of her story. Comics truly are a great
way to tell a story because they are visually captivating and the text can either agree or disagree
with what the image is showing you. During the brainstorming process of this paper I decided to
re-draw page 89 in a couple of different ways. Once I had three or four different ways then I had
to decide which one to pick. I knew that just moving things around in the panels wouldn't
drastically affect the story. One of the challenges I faced was deciding which re-drawn image to
write my essay about. I ended up choosing the one where the dog walker is added to be a witness
to the death of Alisons dad. I know that my drawing skills are not the best, but even stick figures
is a good start. Even a simple drawing like mine can show the change needed to impact the story.
I thought I did a good job of relating everything I wrote about back to the original purpose of the
page and how it changes when I re-draw the page. I stated my argument from the beginning of
the essay and continued it throughout the paper. I have noticed in past papers that I have written
that I can get off topic and I think I did a good job of staying on topic for this paper. The easiest
part of the essay was getting my thoughts on to the paper once I had them. Once I have an idea in
my head it can be easy for me to translate it on to the paper, the hard part is then organizing my
thoughts and making sure they make sense. One of the tougher things about writing this paper
was the conclusion and how to end the essay. I didnt know whether to end the essay by restating
my initial argument or if I should try to summarize the entire essay. In the end I did a

combination of both. If I was given more time to write this essay I would have tried to make a
better drawing and tried to set up an appointment with my professor to possibly go over the
paper with him. I did enjoy this essay and look forward to receiving the feedback on it.

Matthew Stebbins
Professor Kashtan
ENG 112
10/5/15
Not a Fun Home Anymore

Throughout the story Fun Home, written by Alison Bechdel, she tries to cope and
understand her fathers death along side dealing with her own sexuality. The story is told
as a graphic novel and Bechdel uses the panels to illustrate what she recalls happening
to her and her father. The panels are crucial to telling the story because they illustrate
the meaning and events that happened during this story. Even changing just one panel
can completely change the rest of the story. I have chosen to re-draw page 89 differently
because it will dramatically impact the rest of the story. This page is important to the
story because it depicts the accident that killed Alisons father. It is unclear in the story
whether it was suicide, murder, or an accident and I intend to describe what did happen
and how my drawing of the panels on page 89 make it clear what happened to him. If it
is made clear what happened to him then the reader will be able to understand the book
easier and it takes away some of the guessing and ambiguity of the story.
Page 89 is the first page of chapter four and I think the page is supposed to have
some shock value to it. Its supposed to start the chapter off with a serious note and set
the tone for the rest of the chapter. She addresses the previous chapter by saying that, I
have suggested that my father killed himself, but its just as accurate to say that he died
gardening(Bechdel 89). This text to me feels as if she does not care if her father killed
himself. For Alison it does not matter to her which way he died because either way he is
still dead. Bechdels text throughout the page helps indicate how she really feels about

her fathers death. She does not show any emotion or express any feeling towards his
death. The final text and panel help visually represent the relationship between Alison
and her father. It is a panel that shows the side of the road as it leads off into the woods
where her father could have been potentially walking. It is very boring and grim scene
that shows no emotion, similar to Alison. The text above the last panel states, and who
knows. perhaps he did.(Bechdel 89) This is a reference to his possible suicide and
whether or not he meant to get hit by the truck. Alison seems to be indifferent about
what happened and would rather move past it instead of figuring out what really
happened to her father. I think that if Alison knew what happened to her farther she
would better understand her fathers reasons for possibly taking his own life and she
would be able to relate to the pressure that he felt about being a closeted gay man.
Early on in the story we learn that Alisons father is a closeted gay man. This is
something that he battles with throughout the story until his death. The purpose of page
89 is to show what happened to Alisons father on the day he died. There is not much
information given to us about how he died and since there are only four panels on the
page, one of them showing nothing. It is hard for the reader to understand or grasp what
exactly happened that day. We begin to learn more about Alisons father as the story
advances so by the end of the story the reader should be able to make a better
assumption in understand what happened to Alisons father. This page is trying to make

the audience feel bad and sad about the death, but the text describes something
differently. The text describes a feeling of carelessness and stubbornness that Alison
continues to express throughout the story. It is hard to know what Bechdel wanted to
accomplish with this page without talking to her. In my opinion, I think Bechdel wanted to
simply mention the way her father died because in her life she did not think it was that
important. This speculation again shows the relationship between Alison and father and
how they did not connect on an emotional level.
Comics are a great medium in which to tell a story because it allows the reader to
see expressions on faces and see how the text corresponds to the page. I have chosen
to re-draw the page in a way that shows what happened to Alisons father on that day.
The page is re-drawn this way because of the extra information that I will provide to the
reader. I think this new information will help them better understand the story and the
events that occur later in the story regarding Alisons father. In the first panel I drew I
chose to show the entire scene. Alisons father is carrying the yard debris and is
approaching the street as a man is walking his dog. I chose to incorporate a man
walking his dog because it allows for a third party witness at the scene of the accident.
This witness is the main purpose of why I re-drew this page. No one else knows what
actually happened on that day except for Alisons father and the truck driver. I believe
that if Alison talked to this witness who saw what happened she would be able to relate

more to her father and what he had to deal with. The second panel I drew is the moment
right before the truck driver strikes Alisons father. The dog walker plays a crucial role
because he sees what happens and can verify everything that happened. There is no
more speculation to what exactly happened that day because now I have placed a
witness into the story. Bechdel likes speaking her mind and drawing whatever she
wanted to in the story. I have elected to do the same thing by drawing the third panel
with Alisons father dead body being the lone image. It provides a shock factor just like
some of Bechdels images in the story. The next panel takes a step back and shows the
truck, the dog walker, and body all in one frame. I wanted to use this panel to zoom out
and show the gravity of the situation. For the last and final panel I decided to use the
same panel that Bechdel chose to use. The edge of the highway with tall dark grass on
the other side. I wanted to use this panel to show that there doesn't need to be a major
change to all the panels to change the story. Even the simplest change can have drastic
effects in the story.
The purpose of the re-draw page is to change the course of the story. I believe
that Alison struggles with being comfortable in her own skin and she sees that
comparison in her father. But when he dies it takes away from that connection and
leaves Alison alone to figure it out for herself. I would like to imagine that the pages after
my re-drawn page completely change because of the man walking his dog. Alison would

speak with the man and what he saw. He would be able to describe to her the events
that happened that day and the facial expression that Alisons dad had when he stepped
in front of the truck. Alison does not receive any closure from her father and this most
likely affected her for the rest of her life. Hopefully by speaking to the man who was
walking his dog, Alison would better understand her fathers choice to take his own life.
But it may also cause more questions for Alison about her own sexuality and if she has
to take her life as well.
I can only imagine what it must be like growing up knowing your gay or a lesbian.
Alison struggled with that all throughout her life and did not know how to handle it. Her
family did not understand her and she was never really close with her mother and father.
Perhaps that is why Alison did not show any emotional feelings during the story. My redrawn page helps change the course of the story and gives Alison the option to talk to
the man who witnessed her dad get hit by a truck. Maybe it will provide closure for
Alison, or bring out more questions that she does not know the answer to. The original
page brushes over the topic of her fathers death and there are no emotions shown. I
replicated that feeling on my re-drawn page, but opened the door for the story to
continue in a different direction. The story continues on, but Alison may finally get some
answers about her father and why he chose to do what he did.