The exchange of liens between the two is powerfully fitting to the text as a whole: “I have lost both my parents” Alison reads, and her mother responds with, “Both? That seems like carelessness”. The scene portrays how they are sharing a space and still isolated from one another in order to be individuals. The furniture on the porch, the banisters, and the backyard is identical for each of them, however the separation of the scene from Alison in one box and her mother in the other illustrates the true distance between them. As Alison sits facing her mother and mirrors her, there is a distinct disconnect between the two of them. Within this series of unfolding events, there is one scene of Alison sitting with her mother on their porch practicing lines. As she transitions from childhood into adolescence, she is pulled back in by her parents and her life is blurred to appear as a play itself. There is no room left for a boundary between the play with her mother and living her real life.
These scenes are complementary to one another as she practices a play with her mother it enhances the playful, make-believe nature of her with her siblings. Towards the middle of the text, Alison’s summer unravels to be a series of running lines with her mother, and then without her parents, having fun explorations with her brothers. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, emphasizes the presence of her parents perpetuates the play-like, unreal nature of her childhood and illuminates that only in the absence of her parents as an adult can her life be real.
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