Focusing on odd and even numbers, she would spend hours counting out seemingly insignificant things, such as the number of drops from a faucet or the number of slats in the floor. When she was ten years old, she began obsessing over numbers. In the end, depression leads Bruce to commit suicide (it is assumed) by stepping in front of a moving vehicle.Īlison also exhibits symptoms of OCD. His hypervigilance prevents him from enjoying time with his family, such as a moment when he stops playing with his daughter to vacuum the rug on which they’re laying. Uncontrolled anger often affects the rest of the family, as he takes his agitation out on the kids. Indeed, even when engaging in the work, he never smiles. Alison calls his obsession a “monomaniacal restoration” (p. His attempts to control his environment are often focused on his home, a Victorian mansion he spends years refurbishing and reconstructing. It is first revealed that Alison’s father Bruce struggles with the mental illness. Signs and symptoms of OCD are present in the very few pages of the book. Alison attempts to put the pieces of her childhood and adolescence together, hoping to find meaning and joy amidst the trauma. Shortly thereafter, her father is hit by a truck, which Alison concludes was likely a suicide. As she grows up, she likewise questions her sexual identity, but unlike her father, comes out as a homosexual. Not surprisingly, Alison developed symptoms of OCD, as well, hers heavily focused on ritual.
Meanwhile, his unmanaged obsessive-compulsive disorder had a stifling effect on Alison’s home environment as Bruce sought to control every detail related to his home environment. Although he stayed married to Alison’s mother, he was a closeted homosexual who never had the opportunity to examine his true sexual identity. Alison reflects on how the unusual nature of her childhood framed her adulthood, especially in regards to her father’s role.īruce Bechdel was a complex man. Alison and her siblings spent a lot of time at the funeral home when they were children, even observing their father prepare corpses for burial. Her father, a principal character in this book, taught high school English and directed a funeral home. Alison grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Inside Out, Portrait of an Eating Disorderįun Home is the graphic memoir of Alison Bechdel, a successful author and comics artist with a fascinating story to tell about her childhood.
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