Posted: 6/15/15 at 9:21am
Rereading the graphic novel, and google-ing Bruce Bechdel, this thread popped up, mysteriously. I now find myself contemplating the same basic question here, the open question of suicide vs. accident. But more BWW-centric, what's extraordinary about the libretto is the way Kron's lyrics for "Edges of the World" manage to serve the moment either way. Of course they suggest abject despair. Yet the words reflect Bruce's state of mind, his no way out recognition of the price he's paid for his duplicity. Whether he jumps in front of the truck or merely behaves recklessly (and erratically leaping back and forth across a highway with brush doesn't bespeak clarity or mental soundness), he comes to a very dark place. It's Allison's prerogative to interpret that moment as she does, because Bruce's behavior is inherently self-destructive. That is a given, that is the truth. The novel builds a persuasive case that the world was closing in on Bechdel, whether he leaped or merely allowed himself to be vulnerable to tragedy. "Why am I standing here?" certainly could also mean, how have I allowed myself to be so without resources, so lost and -- on the heels of divorce, the latest house completed -- alone. Rudderless.
Thoughts on the libretto?
Updated On: 6/15/15 at 09:21 AM
