The Odyssey and The Great Gatsby in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home

Abstract

The present dissertation will present the exploration of the literary references regarding Homer’s Odysseyand The Great Gatsbythat are found in the twenty-firstcentury graphic novel titled Fun Home. The American author, Alison Bechdel, uses dense canonical literary allusions with the purpose of illustrating both the eventsof her lifeand the people who play a relevant role in her memoir thanks to the connections with those external classic texts. The method to follow includesrevisiting Bechdel’s graphic coming-of-age novel Fun Homewith the concurrent reading of research articles which deal with the main ideasof the other various novels linked toBechdel’s work. The objective will be to comprehend the reasons of the author to include intertextuality asher tool to explain her lifeexperiences. Finally, it is important to highlight that attention will be paid to the role that Bechdel’s peers, family and especially her father Bruce play in her life. The figure of Bruce Bechdel as an artist immersed in literary texts and in the decoration of his own house will demand special attention as he died in particular and premature circumstances leaving some conundrums behind him.