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Comparing Goodbye To All That And The Garden Of Allah

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Although the differences between Goodbye to All That by Joan Didion and The Garden of Allah by Eve Babitz are evident, the similarities are striking in both the authors and their stories. Nevertheless NYC and LA bound Joan and Eve lead completely different lifestyles that translate onto their writing not to mention that the two have a significant age gap between them. I believe that the doubt the two face through out their individual journeys in their early 20’s are analogous. In fact in both of their stories the characters come up against doubt whether it was failure to commit to locations, in their relationships, and the manner in which they dealt with their emotional well being. Good Bye to All That takes place in New York City and captures the essence of the city. Joan is away from her home in California for the first time and has found herself delaying her return. In The Pack page 70 she describes the speed of time as, “six months can become eight years with the deceptive ease of a film dissolve” Emphasizing how incredibly easy it is to lose track of time. Joan doubted her stay in the city since the moment she arrived. Despite the fact that she was eventually doing well and was succeeding in her craft there was always the thought that the city just didn't feel like home. Joan mentions in the beginning how The Pack page 69, “It is …show more content…

In the end of the story Mary reunites with her friends that her husband wasn't necessarily fond of. With the door open to do whatever she pleased she decided to take part in her old ways and gets drunk with her girls that night. She saw this as an opportunity to have the fun she's incapable of having when her husband is around. In getting drunk Mary was pursuing the happiness she once had, outside of her marriage. All of the joy she had at those social gatherings were long gone but she wanted to just for once to relive

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