Where I Was From: An Exploration of Joan Didion’s Personal and Social Unrest

Where I Was From is a cultured collection of essays written in 2003. To be fitting to fully understand the intricate notions woven in the book, there is a need to comprehend the creators elan and background, for the readers to visualize where all the viewpoints and misapprehensions sleep together from. Joan Didion, the creator behind this politically, socially and emotionally linked memoir is a renowned American journalist, essayist, and novelist. Much of her works relates to her life in California, her hometown, mostly during the 1960s.She is commended for her style in paper mixed personal reflections and social analyses. She writes more or less paranoia, clear-eyed analyses of the American culture, and personal and social discontent. She was known to be a conservative source during her early years, but later adapted to the liberal tenets of democracy. She had written five novles, eight nonfiction including Where I come From, and also had collaborations with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in writing a number of screenplays (Encyclopedia of World Biography on Joan Didion, n. . , p. 1). Where I Was From centers about the history of California, and Joan Didions relationship to it and to her mother. Noticeably, she loves the use of commas and lengthy sentences to highlight her narration. Her tune hangms melancholic, expressing her confusions about the place, and the way in which she grew up. She feels that there is a sense of perplexity on which she has become. Thus, she contemplated on the American frontier myth, which refers to the unresolved land outside the region of alert settlements of Americans.The American Frontier is a mythical place where unrestrained free land was available, resulting to unlimited opportunity (Eidenbach, 2008, p. 99). Where I Was From 3 She also pinpointed the ferocity of a group of popular white high school men, referred to as the Spur Posse incident of 1993. They used a point-system record to account for their sexual conques ts (Fineman, 1997, p. 177). In addition, when the perseverance about aircrafts and defense weaponries during the World War II flourished, the people from Lakewood, Califfornia, did as well. Later on, it turned out that the industry was built with the Feds support.Dismally, when that support was withdrawn, the industry doomed. These facts are just some of the historical context implicated in the book (Godbersen, 2003, p. 1). Based on my understanding, Joan Didion uses this as a metaphor in equivalence with her life, and generally the rustic myth of Californias origins. What is seen and observed literally does not depict the real circumstances being dealt upon. The veneer of lifes misapprehensions cannot be uncovered by the present analysis itself, for circumstances are intertwined and indeed perplexing to the mind.She compares it with her life, believing she had known herself and her history for so long, only to run across out that her viewpoints are inadequate to portray the trut h. Joan Didions work is so complex in it entirety, it was rich with personal experiences and historical context throughout for each one essay. Some facts were even misleading to the querying mind. Nevertheless, they are still all intertwined with each other, somehow. It is difficult to summarize such an intricate work, but she retaliates to her readers with an overall realization, that is, the culture that we see today is a direct consequence of a population of survivalists.ReferencesEidenbach, K. (2008). Critical Legal Studies and the Lawless Frontier. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http//www.thecritui.com/articles/kirstin.pdfEncyclopedia of World Biography on Joan Didion. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2008, fromhttp//www.bookrags.com/biography/joan-didion/Fineman, M., & McCluskey, M. (October 1, 1997). Feminism, Media, and the Law. Retrieved November 4, 2008, fromhttp//books. google.com/books?id=H2hRAVkc0nMC&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=spur track+posse+incident&source=bl&ots=gWgOvMme Xq&sig=SSExAlIv4BXGJjruegEXXG-uRkI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=resultPPA177,M1Godbersen, A. (October 15, 2003). California story. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http//www.powells.com/review/2003_10_15.html