On Going Home by Joan Didion

Popular Literature

Lisa H. Key

Sociology/105

November 15, 2012

Kevin Riggs

Popular Literature

“On Going Home” by Joan Didion

“On Going Home” is a short story by Joan Didion, it addresses the effects of returning to a home with familiar surroundings and were once forgotten habits resurface. The short story reflects of how comfortable or uncomfortable individuals become when returning to their place of origin, a primary source of comfort or disconnect. Reflections of how easy it is to elude or get lost in happenstance and lose many of the modern day pop culture habits that one’s husband and friends in the city are accustom is the primary point of the story. The story represents man as creatures of habit, which often leave one element and return to habits of old simply because this place represents sadness or security, a sense of well-being; either way it is home. “On Going Home” reflects on time honored traditions that have come down from one generation to another and how these wonderful days of old are disappearing at alarming rates so individuals can develop new traditions for the era in which one resides.

Critics of Didion’s “On Going Home” believe that Joan’s depiction reflects personal desires for a close-knit family through the introduction of husband and new son to family; it may also indicate the lack of personal interactions with family (Dierenc, 1997). The story may reflect personal interjection of hopes and desires one wishes did exist so one may help one’s son form affiliations with family history and nostalgia. The reading suggest Joan may have left sorrowfully memories behind to seek solace in another setting far from the dysfunctions of family in a metropolitan setting, dependent on the individual point of view. “On Going Home” may indicate that one does not require a kissy kissy rearing to accomplish a fulfilling life, and one may only possess dependence in oneself. The influence on popular culture appears to reflect this point-of-view; there is little dedication to traditions of the past in regard to the family unit and the retaining of memories and affiliations with loved ones. Personally, one believes Didion is hoping to pass many cultural heritages to new members of the family. One’s evaluation of the short story is dependent on one’s personal experiences and opinions; the critique is dependent individual interpretation. Critiques are bias to personal environments or familiarities. One may say that these proverbial “Mark Twain” moments are non-existent and never was; one knows different.

Joan Didion is an American novelist who is reflecting on visiting where