Joan Didion's Essay 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem'

Mary Rowlandson was a devoted, Puritan woman of the 1600’s who would eventually go on to pave the way for an entire genre—the captivity genre/narrative. She had several family members murdered and was held captive by Native Americans, but was eventually reunited with her fellow Puritans. She details her experiences in A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson showcases her biblical typology many times and her story and a prime example shown is when she writes, “… my heart began to fail: and I fell aweeping… Although I had met with so much affliction… yet I could not shed one tear…” (Rowlandson 279). She uses typology to understand what is going on in her life and around her and this is displayed when she adds, “But now I may say as Psalm 137.1, ‘By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sate down: yea, we wept when we remembered Zion,” (Rowlandson 279). She used the bible to understand her experiences rather than to see what it is like. She wrote during a very devout, religious era and

The essay it's based on the time Didion visited her parents’ home to celebrate her daughter’s 1 year old birthday. Throughout the visit Didion couldn't help but feel resentment to leave her “home”. Didion stated that she came “to dread my husband’s evening call” because she didn’t want to go back to Los Angeles or even be reminded of it (2). Didion wishes she could stay in her “home” where she is completely happy. We find her desperately looking around the house for her past “around every corner, inside every cupboard” she “aimlessly” goes “from room to room” looking for something she once lost and will never get back (2). Didion feels the need to reconnect with her family and, although not stated, Didion longs to go back in time and prevent

To Begin with, throughout “Part One” of Where I Was From Didion uses ineffective organization and word choice. While the reading the novel one might be very confused by Didion’s poor word choice, meaning she did not make complete sense at all times. Also, Didion’s organization is horrendous in the book making it very ineffective, she seems to skip around a lot as if she was unsure of what happened and when it happened. In a story of her ancestors, Didion quotes, “Elizabeth Harden was remembered to have hidden in a cave with her children there were

Carol Karlsen was born in 1940. She is currently a professor in the history department a the University of Michigan. A graduate of Yale University (Ph.D, 1980), she has taught history and women’s study courses at Union College and Bard College.

Early in the essay, Didion had established her credibility towards the Santa Ana, proving that the facts she is stating about the disastrous winds are factual throughout the essay.

The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.

Los Angeles possesses the characteristics of great fame and fortune as well as immense homelessness and poverty. Often times, young people are misled by the financial success of some and assume that is typical of city people. Writers Joan Didion and Carol Muske-Dukes characterize the realization that an adolescent’s lifestyle is not suitable for the demands of a city as signaling the dawn of the apocalypse. In the essay, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” Didion highlights how the failure of society is brought about by a family’s inability to fulfill traditional roles and a lack of education as exemplified during the Hippie movement. While poet Muske-Dukes utilizes gothic language and allusion to illustrate the notion of an apocalypse in the poem “Like This”.

In her poem, “Lady Lazarus,” Sylvia Plath uses dark imagery, disturbing diction, and allusions to shameful historical happenings to create a unique and morbid tone that reflects the necessity of life and death. Although the imagery and diction and allusions are all dark and dreary, it seems that the speaker’s attitude towards death is positive. The speaker longs for death, and despises the fact the she is continually raised up out of it.

The emotional impact of certain writings is changed by major events such as revolutions and wars. As seen in “Slouching towards Bethlehem” where you see the effects of the Vietnam war in the 60’s movement, hippy movement, and how war changed the beliefs of the American people Because of change it leads to a conflict between generations. In nonfiction, the tone and hidden meaning shown in the story are heavily influenced by major events at that time. In Joan Didion’s essay, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” she uses descriptive imagery, structure and references to WB Yeat’s poem “The Second Coming” to convey the turmoil and generational divide during the 1960’s in America.

Reading this book has been interesting and heartbreaking experience. A Year of Magical Thinking, a journey through the grieving process. While dealing with the death of her husband, she is confronted with the sickness of her only child. This book touches me, and it makes me think of what would happen if my loved one died. This paper is a reflection of my thoughts and feelings about this woman’s journey that has been explored by book and video. I will also explore the author’s adjustment process, and how she views her changed self.

O'Connor was a Southern Catholic who lived a third of her life ravaged by lupus, so she was adept at describing living with pain. O'Connor did not shy away from her Christian beliefs, and in fact, all her stories have her special blend of unwavering social and moral themes entrenched in each vignette. Every single detail is important, potent, and biblical in nativity. Her stories are fearlessly faithful and unapologetically so -- making her a most beloved stalwart Catholic writer of the South.

Accordingly, the narrative contains both literal and symbolic dimensions. Before the attack on her village and her capture by the Native Americans, She lived a blissful and pleasurable life with her family. She had a nice home, comfortable furnishing, and ate the best of foods. Although Rowlandson’s husband was a minister and she was a Christian, she did not feel she lived her life as devoted or committed, as she should be; she could have prayed more or been more devoted

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time

At this time Millay and her sister Norma moved to Greenwich Village in New York where Millay tried to make a living in acting(Millay par. 5). In the Village, Millay found a new side of herself and was for women's rights and free love, which made living life to the absolute fullest. James Gray writes," For two decades of her ever-rising popularity--the twenties and thirties of the century--she seemed to personify the spirit of time: it's exuberance, it's defiance of conversation, it's determination to discover and to declare a sharply defined identity" (Gray;Press 5). It's was also often pointed out Millay's numerous love affairs as well as the all-night parties and their customary drinking. She soon found out that this was not the easy life, for financially she, again was not doing well. Millay would find in today's America the people do experiment, not everyone, but sometimes that's the only way to find themselves. In Millay's case, these experiences helped her write some of her best poems and plays, because she wrote about reality. Also, it was rumored that Millay had encounters with the same sex and was criticized for her experiments, if that to be true; she would be pleased with today's America and how were fighting and trying to get used to the fact of "free love".

Although everyone has a father, the relationship that each person has with his or her father is different. Some are close to their fathers, while some are distant; some children adore their fathers, while other children despise them. For example, in Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” Hayden writes about his regret that he did not show his love for his hardworking father sooner. In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” she writes about her hatred for her brute father. Despite both authors writing on the same topic, the two pieces are remarkably different. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” have different themes that are assembled when the authors put their different uses of imagery, tone, and characterization together.