The Los Angeles Notebook Analysis

Meaning/Main Idea

The main idea or concept of Didion’s “The Los Angeles Notebook” is to portray how human behavior and thought is a result of mechanics. Didion describes the Santa Ana winds as the omnipotent force that pulls humans to their mechanical nature. Los Angeles residents feel the arrival of the “bad wind” and succumb to the paranoia. Didion pairs a story of indians committing suicide to escape the wind with descriptions of the ominous changes that occur in the atmosphere during a Santa Ana to establish a mood of foreboding. After painting a Santa Ana as a paranormal force, Didion concludes to explain the science behind its “supernatural influence” on LA residents. She states that in the case of a Santa Ana, science can prove folk wisdom. The Santa Ana appears as a hot dry wind and whenever one occurs, doctors report patients with frequent “headaches, nausea and allergies, about nervousness and depression” (Didion 3). The excessive amount of

positive ions in the air during a Santa Ana are proven to cause irritable behavior shifts in people. Didion contrasts the supernatural understanding of a Santa Ana with the logical explanation to prove human behavior is purely mechanical and a result of science.
Purpose and Audience
Didion’s purpose behind “The Los Angeles Notebook” is to inform residents of LA and the general public of the adverse effects the Santa Ana winds have on people near the occurance. The author’s intent is also to portray humans as being mechanistic while unraveling the perplexity of a Santa Ana. Joan Didion views the Santa Ana winds as a sinister entity, both powerful and mysterious. She hoped the readers would gain insight on the seemingly supernatural effects the Santa Ana winds have on people. With a logical conclusion to the mysterious winds, Didion intended to prove her theory of mechanistic human behavior. After allowing her audience to understand a Santa Ana as something esoteric and unexplainable she states that it “was the kind of wind it was”, until science disproved the mystery (Didion 3). This juxtaposition of the two understandings of a Santa Ana help support her main idea. She assumes her audience is familiar with the geography of Los Angeles when she mentions the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes (Didion 1). Didion also makes the assumption that her audience is unfamiliar with the logistics of a Santa Ana. She provides many definitions and explanations to provide clarity for her audience. For example she defines foehn, hamsin, and mistral (Didion 3).

Ethos, Logos, Pathos
Ethos:
Through her use of ethos, pathos and logos, Didion persuades her audience of the mechanistic behaviors of people during the Santa Ana winds. Ethos is established when Didion mentions she lives in Los Angeles and sees the evil change in people first hand. By quoting Raymond Chandler to back up her observations, her claims become credible to her audience through a second hand source. Didion states that although no one had been informed of a Santa Ana being due, everyone knew one was coming (Didion 1). She also recalls being told of the eerie happenings caused by the winds. These statements show that her sinister view of the winds are shared by others, thus allowing the idea of “the bad wind” to be an accepted truth.
Pathos:
Didion establishes pathos with the use of vivid imagery to engage her audience.

She describes the ominous changes that occur right before a Santa Ana struck, “eerie absence of the surf”, “surreal heat”, etc (Didion 2). This imagery provides a clear picture of the malicious change in Los Angeles. To convey disorder and corruption, Didion states one would be woken up to the sound of “peacocks screaming in the olive trees” (Didion 2). Peacocks, normally perceived as regal and elegant scream in contrast to this. Being that the olive tree is a symbol of peace, these two contrasting ideas evoke a sense of confusion. Didion describes how she will “see black smoke back in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night”. Her use of sensory words such as “hearing” and “see”, ignite the 5 senses. The reader can picture the smoke through her words. “Hearing sirens” gave us a sense of danger and this was something Didion wanted to express. The fear and anguish expressed through Didion’s imagery evokes pathos from her

audience.
Logos:
The scientific explanation of the the Santa Ana’s effect appeals to the reader’s logic. Initially, the reader is drawn in by the mystery of the winds. This supernatural explanation juxtaposes with the scientific explanation. By disproving the supernatural effects of a Santa Ana with facts and a scientific understanding, Didion establishes logos by demonstrating that she considered this supernatural view before deciding against it.
Structure and Movement
Didion uses deductive structure to engage the audience in the mystery behind the Santa Ana winds before explaining the truth behind the enigma. Narration is used when Didion recalls the behavior of her neighbor and a story told to her when she moved to LA (Didion 2). Didion’s use of narration not only crafted a more appealing take on the story, but it also served to support her main idea. By recalling the events of others, Didion broadened the scape of her story to more than just her own opinions and actions. She uses description to emphasize the mood/atmosphere as she describes Los Angeles before the Santa Ana had struck. For example, Didion claims that they will “see black smoke in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night” (Didion 2). This use of sensory detail depicts the foreboding atmosphere. In the scientific explanation of the winds, Didion craftily uses process analysis to further develop her main idea. By explaining the logistics of a Santa Ana, the reader gains a clear understanding of the mechanistic reaction humans have to the wind. The most prominent structural technique is cause and effect. Didion describes the Santa Ana as being the cause of the abrupt sinister behavior. Didion’s organization and structure served her purpose by allowing the audience to consider a supernatural take on the winds before accepting the science behind it.

Diction, Tone, and Mood
Didion’s use of diction vividly conveys an unsettling mood throughout the entire excerpt. The ominous tone serves to support Didion’s view of the sinister winds. The author begins with abstract words such as “uneasy”, “unnatural stillness” and “tension” to set the tone of foreboding (Didion 1). Although her word choice feels unnaturally calm, she does this to enrich the chaos and emphasize the calm before the storm. She describes nerves being cranked to “flash point” causing arguments to “rekindle” (Didion 1). The use of words such as “flash point” and “rekindle” remind the reader of starting a fire, evoking a sense of destruction. Didion recalls the Pacific turning “ominously glossy”. This makes that feeling of darkness feel as immense as the ocean. The analytical diction such as “foehn”, “solar disturbances”, etc, are used to shift the tone from foreboding to didactic.
Syntax
Didion uses syntax as a prominent tool to portray her main idea and evoke fear and suspense. When describing the wind and their effects she wavers between run-on sentences and biting clauses. When Didion claims, that “tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow... drying the hills and nerves to flashpoint,” she constructs this run-on sentence to create a feeling of apprehension. She uses simple sentences to convey irrefutable facts when she says “The baby frets” and “The maid sulks” (Didion 1). These short, choppy sentences drip with suspenseful simplicity. She uses a complex sentence when she states that there are “a number of persistent malevolent winds… appears finally as a hot dry wind” (Didion 3). This complex sentence accumulates details to create a picture of the “malevolent winds”. This excerpt is primarily filled with loosely constructed sentences which accumulate a feeling of suspense.