Joan Didion's Play It As It As It Lays: Point Of Views

Through the play on point of views in Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays, the rationale behind the alternating point of views of the final eleven chapters establish an opportunity for the readers to explore the different perspectives and reflect on how they would handle a similar situation. Moreover, Didion’s peculiar way of alternating the last eleven chapters between her personal account of records and those of the third person narrative allow the readers to understand the sway of time and sympathize with Maria’s situation.

The opening three chapters are told through the first-person point of view of Maria, Helene and Carter. Joan Didion chose to begin the novel with three distinct first person point of views to draw the reader into the

conflict. This is a way for readers to relate to the main characters and question whether Maria is correct for allowing BZ to stop playing the game of life.

However, as the novel progresses, the point of view switches from the first person to the third person. Finally, the last eleven chapters alternate between a single-speaker, first person, and moves on to a third person, who executes most of the narration throughout the novel. The play on the alternative point of views develops a visual narrative driven by dialogue and expressed feelings that promote a scenic way of revealing Maria’s life leading to her institutionalization in the psychiatric institute. Helene and Carter contribute to the scenic showing of Maria’s life by expressing their own thoughts and feelings. While Maria questions, “What makes Iago evil?” and struggles with being herself, she quotes “I try to live in the now and keep my eyes on the hummingbird” (10). Helene and Carter attack Maria, each expressing how she is careless, selfish and unable to

understand the normal amenities of social exchange. “She was always a very selfish girl it was first last and always Maria” (12). Through these first person point of views in the beginning chapters, the reader is able to see Maria’s point of view and how she strongly believes she is sane throughout the novel. However, through Helene’s and Carter’s point of view, Maria is not mentally stabled and is, therefore, sent to a psychiatric institute. This psychiatric institute serves as the main setting in which the novel begins and ends.

The final eleven chapters alternating point of views function by providing different perspectives by complementing the entire novel through the expression of feelings, its descriptive setting and time frame. Each chapter is structured through a descriptive dialogue that contains a caption of either a flashback or present event of Maria’s life. Didion’s way of playing with the point of views helps create a series of fragmented episodes that convey not only Maria’s life, but also the impact of her presence on others. Every other chapter from the start of the eleven chapters shows what seems to be a diary of italicized text written by Maria’s point of view. She thoroughly describes how she believes she is sane, “In spite of what Carter and Helene think, maybe my sense of humor was all I did lose” (208). In every other chapter Maria mentions how she doesn’t mind “Neuropsychiatric” but rather her “only problem” is Kate (206). Through these eleven chapters, the alternating point of view help show how Maria thinks differently in comparison to Carter and Helene,

If Carter and Helene want to think it happened because I was insane, I say let them. They have to it off on someone. Carter and Helen still believe in cause-effect. Carter and Helene still believe that people are either sane or insane (203).

Maria precisely knew what was going on, identifying herself as a “radical surgeon” (203) of her own life.

This refers back to when BZ showed up at Maria’s door holding a bottle of vodka and twenty or thirty capsules in his pocket. In this particular chapter BZ tells Maria “Some day you’ll wake up and you just won’t feel like playing anymore” (212). Maria chose to continue playing the game, allowing BZ to take the capsules and end his life. While Maria supported and understood BZ, Helene cried and screamed blaming Maria for BZ’s death. While the other chapters in the novel are structured in a scenic form, the last eleven chapters mainly focus on exposing the feelings and thoughts the characters have towards the events that lead up to BZ’s suicide and Maria’s mental health.

Although the novel’s form over all is fragmented into short chapters and alternates between characters, it all revolves around Maria’s life. In relation to the final eleven chapters, they help support the overall theme of Maria’s loss of identity. As the chapters alternate between Maria’s point of view and the third person's point of view, her identity sways among the other characters and confuse the reader into questioning whether Maria did right in allowing BZ to go through with

suicide.

The customary third person point of view carries the novel swiftly forward, offering the readers an opportunity to relate their own experiences to those of the characters. Play It As It Lays draws us into looking at life as Maria’s father describes a “crap game” (200), where she chooses to continue playing, in which, despite the struggles and knowing what “nothing” means, we, as humans, choose to exist in a world without meaning, Maria says,

“My father advised me that life itself was a crap game” (200). Unlike BZ ,Maria chooses to continue playing the crap game, “One thing in my defense, not that it matters: I know something Carter never knew, or Helen, or maybe you. I know what nothing means, and keep on playing. Why, BZ would say. Why not, I say” (214).

This phrase from the eleven chapters refers back to Maria’s first person point of view chapter in the beginning of the novel. “ I never in my life had any plans, none of it makes any sense, none of it adds up” (7). As the novel progresses her mental health and the way she sees life deteriorates, but still she does not lose hope and continues to move along with life.
Although the novel as a whole alternates between point of views the last eleven chapters are vital in understanding the purpose of Didion’s way of structuring the entire novel and in conveying Maria’s life. Not only do the chapters continue to be descriptive in dialogue and setting, but also express the feelings and thoughts of Maria, Helene, Carter and BZ, allowing the reader to understand how the sway of time has affected Maria’s mental health and those around her. Moreover, it allows the reader to take part in the different viewpoints as it not only informs one side of the story but all.