Alison's Diary

    "Fun Home" delves deep into the psychology behind the Bechdel family and their motivations, Alison and Bruce most notably. They're both homosexual, but have their own ways of dealing with their insecurities about it and other issues in their lives.
    Bruce tends to impose his problems onto other family members, even if he means well. He externally criticizes and attempts to control those he is close to in order to feel better about himself, which might feel healthy to himself, but can be destructive on others. At the same time, Alison begins to keep a diary to document her thoughts on people and events going on in her life. While this is a fine thing to do, her growing OCD infiltrates into her diary and she starts doubting herself, eventually scribbling out more and more of her writing in efforts to fend off "evil thoughts." She doesn't harm anyone on the outside, but instead becomes destructive to herself internally.
    However, the opposite happens with Bruce and Alison perceiving their sexualities. Bruce attempts to keep the truth about how he feels towards males a closely guarded secret to all but those involved, while Alison becomes open about her sexuality once she discovers what she truly wants, even adopting more masculine features as she becomes more comfortable. The difference between them is that Alison was able to confront her personal issues, like beginning to vocally tell Helen about her day instead of keeping it all secluded in a book, while Bruce just kept repressing his until he couldn't take it anymore.
 
1. Would Bruce have been better off confronting Helen about his issues as well? Why or why not?
2. Alison was indirectly stopped from writing and drawing at a young age due to how Bruce perceived her artistry. What if Bruce hadn't criticized her, how would that have affected her? Would she have been criticized by someone else?
3. How different do you think Bruce's personality would be if he never repressed his issues, like his homosexuality?