Literary Analysis Of Joan Didion’s “Sentiment Essay, Research Paper

I feel that Joan Didion is trying to portray the racial class differences in New York City in her articled titled Sentimental Journeys. Didion s article starts with a detailed description of the brutal rape and beating of a young, single white female jogger in Central Park who was attacked by a gang of youths from a different race and class. Didion uses the metaphor of the beaten middle-class woman to represent on a much larger scale the troubles of New York City as a whole while exploring the expanding racial tensions in the city. There are several rapes daily in New York City that are not nearly as publicized as the incident involving the middle-class Caucasian woman jogger and the gang of lower class youths who battered her. Susan Brownmiller found in her research for Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape that although New York City police statistics showed that black women were more frequent victims of rape than white women, the favored victim in the tabloid headline was young, white, middle-class, and attractive. I feel the point Didion is trying to make here with the story of a single white female battered by an attacker of a different race is that the story creates more of a social tension between the classes and races to such an extent that it is considered more shocking than attacks between the same race that happen every day. The emphasis upon the Central Park jogger incident was more than just a racial issue. The raped woman involved fit the perfect tabloid headline. (Brownmiller) Means 2Didion describes the victim as Caucasian, middle-class, young, female, and with a lot of prosperity and a successful promise for the future to look forward to ahead of her. Didion cites the death of a young Jewish middle-class white woman as an example supporting the theory of the perfect victim. Laurie Sue Rosenthal had died from a fatal mix of Darvocet and alcohol. Her body had been wrapped in a blanket and set out with the trash, only Laurie s story never even made it to the front page due to the fact that she was Jewish and so didn t quite fit that perfect mold. I feel Didion uses this example to prove how the Central Park jogger s fame comes from the fact that she perfectly fits the tabloid description that newspaper headlines are hungry for.

The many cultures and races represented in New York City cause a bigger spotlight on stage for incidents involving victims of different races and classes. No matter what race the youths were a part of, the woman raped and beaten was the true victim. Because she fit the perfect image of an attractive middle-class single white female and the confessed rapists were of a different race, this story was given more of that spotlight than necessary. Underneath the twisted details of race against race, it all comes down to a gang of youths who raped and beat another human. As the Daily Times stated, This trial is about more than the rape and brutalization of a single woman. It is about the rape and the brutalization of a city. The jogger is a symbol of all that s wrong here [New York City]. And all that s right, because she is nothing less than an inspiration. I feel that the emphasis placed on the jogger s story on the small scale is the representation of New York City that Didion wanted to get across to her readers on a much larger scale.