Who Is Joan Didion On Going Home

In this discussion, Levinas identifies the home as the place of origin that underlies subjective thought and action. More specifically, the home undergirds mental activities such as recollection, representation, and the physical activity of labor. The home is foundational to these endeavors because it shelters the self from the elements. Once liberated from the elemental realm, the ego is free to assert itself as a possessive being. But this achievement of interior and exterior mastery comes at the invariable expense of the self's connection to transcendence. When the Other is welcomed into the home, however, the I overcomes its egoistic attempt to dominate its surroundings. Moreover, by extending hospitality to the Other, the self transforms the home into an instrument of ethical

Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson’s 1980 novel, tells the tale of Ruth and her sister, Lucille, in the fictitious town of Fingerbone, Idaho, as they grow up in their unforeseeable aunt Sylvie’s care following their mother’s suicide. Ruth develops a complicated relationship between environment and its inhabitants, particularly her sister’s pursuit of a more stable life. If one asks Ruthie where “home” is, would she say Fingerbone?

In “Down Home”, Lucy Montgomery uses personification and imagery to not only provide the reader insight into her ‘safe place’ that she treasures dearly, but to develop the theme that wherever one’s family and ‘safe place’ is, is where their heart is.

Didion is explaining that the term home, now has a different meaning to the younger generation. She explains how she feels about being home and what she wishes for her young daughter. She exclaims how she cannot give the life or feeling of “home” to her daughter, like she had. “…would like to give her home for her birthday, but we life differently now and I can promise her nothing like that.” (p.637)

As already mentioned, the understanding of home implies the importance of the past, the history of the space that shapes and determines the contemporary situation of its inhabitants. Tradition and immobility connote the domestic as a conservative institution that fights against the potential changes that are implicit within the passing of time. Time and space in the domestic space flow in order to give a sense of stability and the fantasy of immutability. Home seems spatially and temporally unsettled, thus governed by its own rules. The domestic universe provides its own temporal order in which the sense of stability and tradition is present through the daily routines that the domestic space holds and protects. As argued by Conn Holohan, ''ritual and recurrence is the defining temporal relationship to any home-space'' (Holohan, 185). The daily routines performed by the house inhabitants are key in the definition of the inhabitant's dwelling experience; a harmonious representation of home would be that in which the everyday ritual is performed casually, without interruptions. For instance the impossibility in undertaking the routines that define the inhabitant's dwelling eliminates their sense of being at

City scenes flicker by in a blink, followed by a panoramic of suburban life as the camera pans through the town. As fewer and fewer houses are visible, and the emptiness grows, the true remoteness of James family home can be understood. The audience is taken on a journey, not only to locate the home but also to provide a sense of isolation and solidarity within this environment. As we look into the house, we can critically analyse the research that considers how the home is viewed.

Throughout my whole life, I have only ever lived in one place, which is what I consider my home. In my opinion, a home is a place where one feels most comfortable and welcome. Prior to reading the article by Massey titled “A Global Sense of Place,” I thought of a person’s “home” as the place where they live, which can include a house, apartment, or even a shelter. However, reading this article has made me re-evaluate what a “home” is. It has encouraged me to expand my thoughts beyond thinking about a home as a specific place with concrete boundaries. This way of thinking causes individuals to look inwards and think of themselves as a unit isolated and fighting against society. Instead, I should think about the social relations that create

After the boundaries have been destroyed, the struggle continues beyond the threshold. Thresholds of the home narrow, sometimes just confined to individual rooms but rarely do these thresholds preserved for the duration of the home invasion film. There is a cliche to the majority of home invasion films: there is tension within the home, the 'Other' invades, the inhabitants fight and eventually regain power. This thesis demonstrates how the the literature of the home does not account for the tension within the home. For the most part, the home is depicted as a dream like space, remembered as bliss from childhood. The home invasion films speak to an ontological unease within society, used as a catharsis to explore societies worst fears. Hillier

These situated performances of homemaking beyond home confirm how cultural and more-than-human approaches to home can inform the ‘layers of interactions’ (Gibbs, 2009) that continuously rationalize immigrants’ living in a city and reconfigure urban Sydney. Central conclusion is that newly settled migrants’ homemaking in Sydney does not end with securing a roof over a family’s head, rather it is networked and processual – both materially and metaphorically extending beyond home. Imaginaries of belonging, as sense of an immigrant’s home, are not tied to the confinement of a dwelling site; rather urban liveability and production of a meaningful home involve social-cultural associations and economic attachments forged in and through more-than-human relations across the settlement spectrum. Therefore, any housing supply, especially if it is targeted to young immigrants should offer multi-scalar opportunities that are streamlined to match immigrants’ material and cultural demands.

The residents of The Faine House can be considered “poor” for a number of different reasons, but the root of their poverty is the same, lack of a strong and supportive family. Because of this first cause, for the rest of their life, they are plagued with issues that become even harder to solve without the help from a compassionate and caring family. In our Catholic faith, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us to invest in healthy relationships. Graham Tomlin wrote, “Relationships are far more important than our careers, our holidays, and our salaries,” (Tomlin). It is true that the residents are financially and educationally disadvantaged, but it is the insufficiency of wholesome relationships that is the worst injustice. One can have an unpleasant or poor-paying job, but if that person has a strong familial support system, he or she is much less poor in spirit than the person who does not. From strong families, we can build rich communities of love to solve the rest of life’s problems.

With some anticipation I and my wife went to see "Welcome to This House" (2015), Barbara Hammer’s film about poet Elizabeth Bishop through the lens of her various domiciles. I expected an exploration into the meaning and impact of those homes on Bishop’s life and writing, but I was disappointed.

This transition in family size is essential in the change in the idea of disappearing home. In the world where a single household is increasing, where divorce and remarriage are frequent, where the economy is so fragile that possession of physical home became precious, the conventional idea of home as a childhood origin is easily demolished. For example, in Sol Yurick’s The Warriors, Hinton, one of the main protagonists, realize that he couldn’t remember the location since “he had lived all over” (Yurick 59). Hinton has a home, but it is

I stood for a second and took a deep breath of fresh air. The crisp, untouched air flowed as I inhaled the new environment. Too much air began to drift towards me because I was the only one there. It seemed as if everything around me was empty yet, I knew there were others around. It was a surreal moment, nothing but my thoughts and my family populated the airport. As we slowly wandered to the car, the quiet and serene area engulfed us. We remained silent the entire journey to the car; we were too shocked about moving to Michigan to talk. Clear droplets slowly began to fall on the window pane. Each one becoming more and more aggressive and mesmerizing. The loop of the pitter-patter was all I could hear even though my parents were making small talk. In Mexico, I would watch all the people on the street, all the stores and billboard signs and tall buildings. My favorite thing to watch were the lights on a car when it was raining, but now no one would stay close enough to see their lights though the backseat window. My dad was excited that we had come “home”, but it wasn’t home anymore. It’s just where we had once lived and where my family was. People always say that your home is your family, but that’s just a cutesy fib they put on cooking shows to make you love your family. The smooth roads and empty streets, are not my home. They are this weird place that feels like a pile of dirt. It’s not very exciting or rare. You can look through it and find a few special gems, but

Why call it a home; when you spend your night missing home, even though when you are sleeping in the most extravagent house in the world? Home is a place; where one is brought up since birth; the kind of place where one creates memories that would last a lifetime; an ambiance where every little fragments of matter combines to form certain things that deeply relates to you. Home is a simple word; but the meaning to it, is surprisingly sophisticated. Its where your childhood friends are; your neighbors that lend helping hand when you are in trouble; relatives that comforts you when you are in anguish, and personal objects, which one has deeply rooted feelings for it. It may not be perfect; yet it is a place where one may leave physically; but not the heart. The fact that the place where your life begun from the things you go through to live a better life, not only does home provide you a roof above your head, additionally it plays a vital role that affect a person emotionally, mentally, and physically; a place where it will always be a part of one’s heart, whether its atrocious or pleasant.

Contrary to Reverend Mother, “home” is a site of power contestation for Amina as her urge for achieving power and control becomes overarching than the emotional attachments or relationships. Amina is equally blessed with such empowering talents of home-making like her mother. Regarding her home-making skills Saleem narrates-