Kayla Chen #6Block 73/28/2014 “Goodbye to all that” and “The Somebody” The world we live in is always subject to change , creating a pool of mixed feelings and a need to escape. In Joan Didion's "Goodbye to All That" and Danny Santiago's "The Somebody," Shamrock and Joan Didion's narrators Chato create this feeling where they are looking for a place they can call "home" and fit in. neglect can allow someone to seek attention elsewhere. For Chato, he is constantly doing graffiti, trying to attract others. But need is not always necessary for escape. The ideal vision of a place can be distorted by realistic experiences that do not meet our expectations. Didion takes this path when she chooses to go to New York. Because of Chato and Didion's independence, they are able to support their individualism and self-discovery. In terms of tone, both authors create a realistic tone through their diction. In Didion's mind, she describes New York by saying that “New York was not just a city. It was an infinitely romantic notion, the mysterious bond of all love and money and power, the bright and perishable dream itself” (231). But in reality, his imagination of such a glamorous city does not live up to his expectations upon arrival: "That first night, I opened my window on the bus into town and looked out at the horizon, but all I could see was the deserts of Queens. and the big signs that said MIDTOWN TUNNEL THIS LAND and then a stream of summer rain” (226). Using the term "trash" to describe Queens and the scene of a "flood" sets a cold, bitter, and dirty tone because Didion is not impressed. In “The Somebody,” Santiago uses words related to death to create a tone of despair. ...... middle of paper ...... Her memories come from many incidents during her stay, described in such intricate detail that are unique to her. Through these themes, Chato and Didion serendipitously travel to Los Angeles to embark on a new path that will hopefully be more rewarding for them. Thanks to the realistic tones the authors create in Chato and Didion's first-person narration, it's easy to notice how the world isn't surreal. East. As their stories continue, the tones of their narration separate. In "The Somebody", Chato's tone is ironically optimistic, and in "Goodbye To All That", Didion's tone is filled with nostalgia and regret. Overall, there is a circular theme that revolves around the characters' independence and how to use it to experience the outside world and other aspects of it. And with that, they center themselves so that the world can be theirs and not someone else's..