Consubstantial and Spiritual Paternity in Fun Home

The tale of Daedalus and Icarus is referenced in Fun Home. In the tale, Daedalus built wax wings for himself and Icarus to escape imprisonment. Icarus ignored Daedalus's warning and flew too close to the sun which melted the wax and caused him to die. I think this is also where the saying "flew to close to the sun" comes from which you might of heard before. Although Icarus ended up dying he was able to ignore Daedalus's warning and do what he wanted. I think Daedalus's warning could represents Bruce's arguments with Allison over boys clothes as a warning for Allison to conform to societal norms. Allison choosing to come out as a lesbian could be seen as ignoring the warning like Icarus. 

Daedalus and Icarus are an example of consubstantial paternity which also applies to Allison and Bruce, but After Bruce confesses about his experiences, Allison monologues "I HAD FELT DISTINCTLY PARENTAL LISTENING TO HIS SHAMEFACED RECITATION" (Bechdel 221). I think this quote shows the idea of the spiritual paternity between Allison and Bruce. Allison thought of Bruce as a parent the whole story up till this moment where she questions the parental roles in the relationship. I think this is because Allison is able to be more of a parent to Bruce when it comes to sexuality as she has came out unlike Bruce. 

When monologuing about Icarus Allison asks "WHAT IF HE'D INHERITED HIS FATHER'S INVENTIVE BENT" (Bechdel 231). I think this could represent the question of what would Allison do in in Bruce's position. The conditions were not as favorable for Bruce to come out as they were for Allison and Allison could have ended up like Bruce. We do not know what would happen which could be why the question is rhetorical and maybe to empathize Bruce in a way. 

Comments

  1. MitchellApril 29, 2026 at 8:33 AM

    In Alison and Bruce's case, I would say that "Icarus" (the child, Alison) HAS (to some extent) "inherited her father's inventive bent." She depicts him as a Daedalusian artist of home decor, who has the ability to transform trash into gold--but she is critical of the ways in which Bruce's art is used to conceal rather than reveal truth. And she also maps his story onto the Daedalus-Icarus story with the "antihero's journey" idea--Bruce is an "artificer" who never actually "flies" or escapes his personal labyrinth. But Alison IS the one who "escapes," and this "flight" is related closely to her own development as an artist. She too has an "inventive bent," and we see her crafting her personality and identity throughout the book. Her ART is the book we are reading, and we can see that the artist she has become is utterly dedicated to the idea of honest self-revelation and truth in art. So in this "reverse logic," she is the one who flies free (and, so far, not too close to the sun!) while her father is the one who "falls."

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