Joan Didion Summary Response to On Going Home Essay Joan Didion Slouching

1. Joan Didion Summary
Joan Didion was a renaissance woman in the 60s and 70s, the early days of the subjective literary
news penned New Journalism. This style of reporting embedded the writer so deeply into the
story that the author became part of it. Ms. Didion's literature as well as her life showed a level of
strength few women were brave enough to bear in those days. Her work continues to be an
important contribution for modern women in the United States and Europe. In this book Joan
Didion shares an unabridged vision into the most intimate crevices of her own life as she learns to
grieve for her husband of fifty years, fellow author John Gregory Dunne. I think the title is a
misrepresentation of the contents with its reference to "magical thinking" an implication
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2. Response to On Going Home Essay
According to Joan Didion's essay "On Going Home", continuing changes in life makes it almost
impossible to remove memories of one's past. Especially when one has been away from a previous
home, which that person was raised, then return to that same home a number of years later. In a
home which family and friends shared memories of events, news, gossip and situations, whether it
be bad or good. Old artifacts and various family heirlooms in the home that stimulates a memory of
those old times when used. Surrounding areas of that old home are remembered just as well also.
Being in a new home makes the old memories even more missed. These may be the strongest
influences in why memories are kept and remembered.
When someone is...show more content...
Some of these items might even share some memories with other family members and generations.
These items may be lifeless, but they do hold significance in people's lives and fill their life with
memories.
A memory wouldn't be a memory without some sort of background. In Didian's essay, recollections
of rivers, mountain roads and ranches are described. These settings are a person's surroundings and
habitat. The biggest thing in one's memory would be the location where you would live. So immense
that the simple human mind hardly has the capacity to remember every detail of. Instead, it is only
remembered as a place where once lived. Only the things that are significant to the person, like an
oak tree or a riverbed, which holds some memory like an important event in that person's life are
stored in one's mind. People live in different areas which is a strong influence on how each
individual memory will differ from one another and also how unique memories can be. If physical
items, people, events fail to remind someone of ones past, the location of where that person grew up
will definitely jog ones memory.
Imagine moving to a new area for the first time after living in at a single place the majority of a life.
That place will undeniably be missed. Adapting to the new area might be difficult due to
homesickness. One might think of places long forgotten
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3. Joan Didion Slouching
Joan Didion had messed up on a job and had nothing to do since. So on the cold spring of 1967,
she decided to go to San Francisco, where her essay Slouching Towards Bethlehem takes place. San
Francisco is a place where there are full of hippies. In her essay, she illustrates the detailed encounters
with the hippies and portrays their personalities and lifestyles. Although Joan Didion describes the
hippies as immature, she also feels pity for their situation at the same time. Didion expresses that
the hippies are very immature and uses different examples to back it up. She goes to Deadeye's
place and sees that there are several people living with him. She talks about how they are all lazy
because, as grown–ups, they do not know how to...show more content...
These girls are not at the age where they should be drinking or live "on the celebrity and power and
sex a band projects" (90). These girls are taking interest in the areas they should not even be
thinking about, but only the instant pleasure they would get. They should be focusing on getting
education to pursue their goals in their lives. It seems as if they do not care about what going to
happen to their future. An even greater example is when Didion walks into Otto's house, she sees a
5–year–old girl on acid. It is really tragic to see such a really young girl on acid, especially because
"her mother has given her both acid and peyote" (128). The mother should be encouraging her child
to live a drug–free life, but instead she exposes it to her at an early age. Imagine how the young
girl's life would turn out as she gets older. She would end up hanging out with the wrong crowd,
living a reckless life. What a way for the mother to plan their own child's future... It is clear to the
readers that the hippies are living such pathetic lives, yet they seem to enjoy it. They do have the
right to live their lives the way they want; however, they should not make choices that will ruin their
lives and lead them to failure. Instead they should try to work their way up to success. The hippies
should get their senses together and start living a proper life, such as getting education, and stopping
drug
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