22. On Self-Respect

Joan Didion on her article entitled "On Self-Respect" talks about the moment she lost her innocence with misplaced self-respect. After being neglected as a member of the Phi Betta Kappa she shares how she denied herself and started seeing her differently from how she used to. Writing for her is a key to escape the world on times of struggle, like going to sleep is a matter of self-respect, you only allow yourself to sleep if you have self respect. Through a series of personal examples the author opens up her life to us sharing and giving good examples of self respect, and concludes that sometimes people deny their self to a scale that they do not find anyone within them self.

Didion`s article is long and complicated to read and understand, it requires a lot of attention of the reader himself to figure out the anecdotes what the author is trying to say. The language is technical and confusing, but she is consistent with it throughout her article. She quotes books and her use of vocabulary give the article a lot of credibility. By the conclusion of the article Didion is able to wrap up her content and make it clear the point and the concept she was trying to prove.