The author discusses the feeling of living without self-respect. Didion says that people try and accomplish living without self-respect everyday. The author describes the feeling of waking up one day and dealing with the realization of having no self-respect. She uses comparisons to emphasize the dreary feeling that you feel inside.

respect may have been earned when she was younger is not the same way it is earned at the age of nineteen.

The author reflects this experience as the beginning of the true search for self-respect. Didion acknowledges self-deception as the main root of deception. She understands that the way you want others to see you and the way that you see yourself are two different things. When you are by yourself you always see the real person inside, no matter how hard you try

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Approximate Word count = 544
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)