Marrying Absurd...ARE THEY CRAZY?!

When one person, or a group of people, does something for a certain amount of time repetitively, that is what tradition means to me. It can be established at any point in life and can end whenever it does. Tradition does not have to be a form of religious belief but could be any type of action someone does over a period of years. It can also be handed down from generation to generation, no matter what that certain tradition is. For example, a tradition that my family practices is: we all have to sit as a family every night for dinner if we don’t eat out. It has been going on for as long as I remember. People have different ways to define tradition, and Joan Didion, author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, defines her definition of tradition in her essay, “Marrying Absurd.”

In this essay, Didion concentrates on the tradition of marriage and its failure to match the exalted expectations we have of it as something sacred or something with a significance, in contrast to a quick marriage out in Las Vegas. Didion quoted, “To be married in Las Vegas, Clark County Nevada, a bride must swear that she is eighteen or has parental permission and a bridegroom that he is twenty-one or has parental permission. Someone must put up five dollars…nothing else is required.” What Didion says about the tradition of a Las Vegas marriage is merely just a marriage on the hot table, happening during the hottest point of a relationship, not a special relationship, but just a relationship. Didion explains, “One night at about eleven o’clock in Las Vegas, I watched a bride in an orange minidress and masses of flame-colored hair stumble from a Strip chapel on the arm of her bridegroom, who looked the part of the expendable nephew in movies like Miami Syndicate.” Marriage is supposed to be special, but in their case, it is just a quick move which really has no significance in life at all. It isn’t a marriage to be cherished for the rest of their lives, but a marriage of absurdity.

So as one can see, traditions fall between a person’s own beliefs and societal beliefs such as marriage that has been going on for years on end. Views on different traditions can be skewed, but other views turn out to be perfectly clear, just as Didion had proved in her essay, “Marrying Absurd.”

Comrade Laski, C.P.U.S.A. (M.-L.)

Joan Didion, author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, had a series of essays written, one of them being called “Comrade Laski, C.P.U.S.A. (M.-L.).” In this essay, she discusses the subject of counterculture, the main subject being toward a person named Laski and his counterculture group. What Didion sees in Laski’s group is partly for it and against it.

Laski has a strong determination to get something done with what he believes in. As for Didion, she respects his determination but is against the actions that are being done in the group. Joan quoted, “As it happens I am uncomfortable with the Michael Laskis of this world, with those who live outside, rather than in, those in whom the sense of dread is so acute…” This specific quote tells us how Didion really feels about the group. She sees how it can be positive in a way, but she also looked at the negativity that comes out of his group. At the end of the essay, there was a conversation going on back and forth between Laski and Simmons, and it ended as, “It’s always bad the day before welfare and unemployment checks arrive…you see what the world of Michael Laski is: a minor but perilous triumph of being over nothingness…” Here, it shows that the blame was put on other people who were on welfare. It was something to convince others that a new sort of government was needed and they rely on people who do nothing. This appeared to be very ironic and filled with flaws.

Even if counterculture groups represent people’s differences, there can be goods and bads that come out of it. Didion’s message about Laski’s group was clear that she approved of how he took his beliefs to a higher level but the actions he and his groups chose were unacceptable.

What about counterculture?

Counterculture has and always will be a part of the human society. To me, it is a way to express individuality or for people to share their similar interests. There are various countercultures made up all over the world and each has its own unique identity and groups. It can be a past group, such as the hippies, or it can be something more present such as the “hip hoppers” and the “rockers.”

Hippies were a part of the 1960s counterculture and they had their belief in world peace. They had large celebrations, one being the Woodstock Festival which was large enough to make history. The hippies had a style of their own; rose colored glasses were common among the style. They also used certain drugs to get a “high” in life or to feel peaceful. As for the current hip hop group, they listened to hip hop of course. It was a certain genre in music and it attracts a certain type of audience. This hip hop culture had a “so-called” association with gang violence. The hip hoppers’ styles tend to be loose, baggy clothing for the males and with the females, it varies from extra tight to loose fit clothing. When it comes to the rockers, they had their taste in the rock genre of music and those outside the likes of rock considered the music “dark music.” Their style in clothing mainly revolved around chains, all black fabric from head to toe, and wild hair. Excessive piercings are also another distinguishable part of the rocker group.

The three countercultures mentioned above were just some of the many examples here in this world. Not only is it just in America, but it expands out to every city, state, country, and continent here on earth. The various countercultures are examples of the uniqueness we hold here on earth.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

From one place to another, as different as they all may seem, each area share many things in common with other areas. Not every town or city is perfect and not every person is flawless. The people of Haight-Ashbury represent the people of the society we have in America. In Joan Didion’s essay, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” she presents a message that says something about our American Society as a whole.

At the very beginning of the essay, Didion writes, “…It was a county of bankruptcy notices and public-auction announcements…commonplace reports of casual killings and misplaced children…abandoned homes and vandals…children were missing…parents were missing…those left behind filed desultory missing-persons reports, then moved on themselves.” This quote specifically explains how the lives of many Americans are. If they aren’t living that life themselves, it is something they eventually end up seeing or hearing about at least once in their life. It proves people wrong when it comes to the thought of America being such a perfect society. There is always one sort of problem going on; never is there a time for perfection in a country. California was expected to be the land of gold, where poverty lays nowhere and everyone is happily living their lives. “There are only three significant pieces of data in the world today…God died yesterday and was obited by the press…fifty percent of the population is or will be under twenty-five… third is that they got twenty billion irresponsible dollars to spend,” Chet says in Didion’s essay. What he was trying to say is that out of the many things going on today, those were some things that the society was or will be going through.

America really isn’t the perfect land that many people thought it would be. People didn’t travel to the area just to experience the same things they had in their previous locations. Overall, the perfectly-seeming society is actually imperfect and certain things that happen in one area of the country are most likely occurring somewhere else.

Where the Kissing Never Stops

After reading "Where the Kissing Never Stops," I have come to believe that, in my opinion, the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence is actually both a good and a bad idea. People exercise their rights to do certain things yet have to limit it due to law. Joan Baez’s school is an example of people's choices of what they do and what they believe in. All throughout this essay, Didion provides us with the details about people’s thoughts, certain decisions they have made, and the reasons why the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence is a good and bad idea.

I believe this institute is both a good and a bad idea because people are able to study what they want, which is a good idea, and do what they want as long as it doesn't violate the law, but sometimes things can be taken too far, which is my reason for why it is also bad idea. "Well I realized, of course, that as long as I am in this flesh and this blood, I couldn't be perfectly nonviolent." Ira speaks out about being a vegetarian and that no matter what, he would be violent in some sort of way, even if it is just the slightest bit. The only way someone could be "perfectly nonviolent" at all times would be if a person just sits and does nothing for his or her entire lifetime. Further on into the story, the conversation moves to a man by the name of Marv. Ira said, "Marv is an honest-to-God nonviolenter...a man of honesty and love." But someone interjects and says, "He said he's an anarchist." Even if it seems as if there can be no nonviolence in this world of humans, it is okay for students to focus on the studies of it. It really isn’t hurting anyone. At the beginning of the story though, where the negativity came in, a woman by the name of Mrs. Petkuss had her belief that the school wasn't a brilliant idea. She quotes, "We wonder what kind of people would go to a school like this..." Many others wonder the same thing and quite of few disagree to having the school, which is also my reason for why it is a bad idea. It causes a certain dispute among the people.

Looking at this scenario in two different ways prove my opinion for why it is both a good and a bad idea. It is fine when people exercise their rights but it would also be nice if people limit themselves to certain activities. Sometimes things can be taken too far, whether or not they believe it is fine or not, therefore supporting my reasons for why the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence is both a good and bad idea.

Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream

Writing is often thought out thoroughly with the mind, before it is transferred onto paper for people to read or just for the writer to read. Not only is writing just about one thing only, but it also focuses on the little details that make up the big story. The things people write about can either be fact or fiction, whether it is an essay, a novel, or a journal that a person keeps. Writers try to fit in what they can so that the reader would understand the text fully, not just to a certain extent. Descriptions also make the text more interesting to read. It is said that ‘good writers are often descriptive writers’ and this statement is proven correct in Joan Didion’s, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, within the first essay, “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream.”

Throughout Didion’s essay, descriptive writing can be found everywhere. For starters, she discusses the San Bernardino Valley and includes details that would clue the readers in with how the whole scenery is expressed in that certain area, both time and place, as if they were actually there. She makes sure that the readers are able to picture what is going on in the story or writes it in a way that readers can imagine how life would be like in that specific area, rather than just reading the story only. Didion writes, “October is the bad month for the wind…when breathing is most difficult and the hills blaze up spontaneously…” Within those few words, it already sets a scene for her story. During the court scene, Didion adds in cries, screams, and certain motions to set off a mood of disappointment, anguish, guilt, and much more.

As anyone can see, a good writer must include the little details within a story. So whether or not the story is based on something factual, the descriptiveness makes up for the entire piece and completes it. Without the important little details and the many descriptions to what is placed in the writing, then what is there to a great story?