Tang's English Corner

Fun Home is Alison’s attempted reconstruction of her father’s enigmatic accidental death. Throughout the novel, Alison jumps back and forth between understanding it as a random death and a kind of deliberate, maybe even artistic, suicide. Alison narrates in a very analytical tone. She constantly draws on evidence, citing books, pictures, and handwritten letters. Yet, the novel is still characterized by uncertainty. Alison often retells the same event again and again, each time revealing more details, perspectives, and interpretations. An example is her mother's reaction to Alison’s coming-out. At first, Alison recalls her mother telling her “your father has had affairs with other men (Bechdel 58).” Later, as if she had just remembered, she adds on that the victim is Roy, their babysitter (211). This sort of revision to memory makes the narrative more like a puzzle being actively pieced together than a fixed account. This novel isn’t Alison’s theory on Bruce’s death, but her worki...

The Bell Jar follows the mental breakdown of Esther Greenwood as she struggles through the social expectations and pressures of early 1950s America. As Esther’s mental state descends into depression, she sends many cries for help to her mother, Mrs. Greenwood. Yet, many of Mrs. Greenwood's responses only seem to exacerbate Esther’s condition. But is Mrs. Greenwood really a bad, indifferent mother? Undeniably, many of Mrs. Greenwood’s comments on Esther’s condition are inappropriate. When Esther tells her that she has not slept consecutively for seven nights, Mrs. Greenwood completely denies her insomnia by stating that she “must have slept, it was impossible not to sleep in all that time (Plath 127).” Instead of taking Ester’s confession as a serious warning sign, Mrs. Greenwood dismisses it as an exaggeration. Her response both invalidates Esther’s struggles and pushes her into deeper isolation. A similar instance happens after Esther receives her first electroshock treatment. Wh...