In chapter 4 Allison goes into how at a young age she admired masculinity but not in a way that she admired it but wanted to emulate it. The comparison for which the chapter is about is this along with her father and his desire for being effeminate. On page 90 the top comic strip is Alison kneeling down at the garden along side her father. She says she hates flowers and he father says, "Sprinkle in a little fertilizer, then put the bulb in pointy side up." Then after she calls him a sissy which she does throughout the chapter. This reveals to me that even though she has revealed her self to be a lesbian she in a strange way looks down on her father for being gay as well and not the typical manly father figure society would have wanted him to conform too. Later on Alison reveals that she would rather have a crew cut rather than a typical girly haircut after she got the nickname butch. These are both obvious that she wants to escape the ways she is being told to be which is effeminate. The comparison is explicitly shown on page 98 in the top drawing. Alison wrote, " Not only were we inverts. We were inversion of one and other." In the picture the mother is saying the fathers suit is effeminate and the father is saying how Allison needs some sort of straw hat. Meanwhile Alison wants to wear sneakers. The father is trying to express his desire to be effeminate through his daughters attire. Perhaps the first time she expresses her desire to want to be a boy is on page 113 when her and her brothers are in the mine with the construction workers. The worker doesn't know she is a girl so she tells her brothers to call her Albert. This whole family dynamic is extremely odd and i would assume her father can see right through his daughter and knows she is trying to come out.
Chapter 5 has a few meaningful themes in my opinion. One is that Alison feels her father would have still been living had they not lived in there small little town and the other is her development of OCD. She says that because of him being forced to cover up who he truly was he was almost pushed into his suicide. Had he lived in New York City were he could have come out and lived a true life and have people accept him for who he truly was than he would be alive. This book is extremely sad and depressing listing to Alison talk about her father and all the issues it has caused her such as her development of OCD. She explains how she must count patterns on floor tiles and undress in the same manner or else she would have to get dressed again in order to take off the clothes in the right order. OCD can be very dangerous and it is very sad that she has it alongside her other issues. A young man from the town next to me just recently committed suicide because he couldn't handle his OCD anymore.
Sam
I agree with Sam’s perspective on these last two chapters. At this point in the graphic novel, Alison is beginning to grow up as her own individual. Forming opinions and self-esteem is greatly reflected on family, but more specifically parents. As said in Sam’s example, Alison’s father constantly reminded her on how society views young girls such as wearing dresses and putting a hair clip in her hair by “The father is trying to express his desire to be effeminate through his daughters attire”. It is possible that her father wanted to protect his daughter from society, or he didn’t want her growing up like he did. Alison’s development of OCD proves how she put her parents’ critiques to heart as her OCD grew. Alison, going against her parents’ wishes, slowly begins to accept herself.
ReplyDeleteSam's reflection of these two chapters are more than true. Alison is now becoming her own person, her own individual with her own opinions thoughts. I agree with Sam when he states, "Perhaps the first time she expresses her desire to want to be a boy is on page 113 when her and her brothers are in the mine with the construction workers." Alison told her brother to call her Albert instead. I also agree with Sam when he says that chapter 5 have meaningful themes. When Alison reveals that she has OCD, I actually felt sad for her even thought I personally don't know her. Alison has so much going on her life especially at such a young age and now this was just the cherry on top. I know so many people who suffer from this disorder and it is nothing to joke about. Like Sam said I also know someone who has committed suicide from this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam that it is strange how Alison looks down on her father for being homosexual when she is also homosexual. While I understand that she is angrier about the fact that her father lied about his sexuality for all those years, I feel that she should have tried to bond with her father with that one and only commonality they shared. I also feel bad for Alison and her struggles with her OCD. OCD is an extremely hard disorder to live with. I am so sorry to hear about the young man from the town next to you Sam. My prayers go out to the young man’s family, the town, and you in this hard time.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Sam's views on these past two chapters. I believe that Alison's father is noticing that she likes different things than what "normal" girls in society would like. Because of this, he may be pushing her to like things such as hair clips and girly dresses so she won't feel the rejection from society that he felt at the time. This could be his way of protecting her from the people in the outside world who may judge her. In chapter 5 we find out about Alison's OCD. She may have adopted this disorder because of the pressure she feels from her father. She's always been told to look more girly, so her way of coping with this idea of perfection may have sparked the OCD.
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