For me, Didion’s argument is presented on pages 18 and 45. “Everything was to teach us something”. I believe that Didion feels that important things happen in our lives and although we don’t always know 100% why they happen, we always learn something from them. Most of the writing happens during the tail end of the flower era, and she is trying to deal with “revolutions” in a very structured Hollywood and Los Angeles. The parts of Los Angeles that she talks about are parts of LA that I am not personally connected to, but I know them and although they seem beautiful on the outside, they have their dark secrets on the inside. All of things that she experienced, “revolts”, the Doors, visiting prison – it all made her who she is. And maybe she doesn’t know how or why, but somehow she knows that her experiences shaped her.
“Everything was to teach us something.”
