California
Didion's home state of California is employed as a symbol of many things. It is a symbol of the American Dream, where pioneers voyaged out West to find a better life. At the same time, it is a scene of consumerism, violence, and social breakdown, as evidenced by the murder featured in "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream." Playing upon the song California Dreaming by the Mamas & the Papas, Didion suggests that the Dream has become more of a nightmare.
"The Second Poem"
Before the collection begins, the poem "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats is featured. The name of the collection itself draws from the poem's concluding line "Slouches Toward Bethlehem to be born?" Written at the dawn of the war for Irish Independence, the poem features apocalyptic imagery. In this sense, the poem is employed as a symbol of what Didion sees as a revolutionary era, where "things fall apart; the center cannot hold."
Michael
In the titular piece of the collection, Didion pays particular attention to a three-year old child named Michael who lives with a group of young hippies. Didion grows fond of the boy in a maternal manner, as he is seemingly avoided by his mother and the adults around him. As the story ends, he starts a fire at his home, though the adult hippies are too concerned about gathering hash that they dropped to worry about the burn on his arms. Michael is a symbol of what Didion sees as irresponsibility of the hippie generation, who are too occupied getting high to care for their children.
Las Vegas
Much like Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Didion, uses Las Vegas as the setting of "Marrying Absurd." In the story, a rush of marriages occurs so that men can improve their chances of avoiding the Vietnam War draft. Didion finds the marriages un-sanctimonious and tacky. She pays particular attention to the various deals that one can find for a marriage, and how purely commercialized it is. From this viewpoint, Las Vegas is the sight where American tradition is destroyed in favor of pleasure and profit.
Howard Hughes
In "7000 Romaine, Los Angeles 38," Didion writes about the mystery of Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire. He is increasingly eccentric, Didion writes that he likes living in Las Vegas because only there can he find a sandwich at all hours of the night. Despite the fact he is rarely seen, he is a hero to many. Didion suggests that he is the symbol of the true American hero - a person that can do whatever he pleases, be it have a sandwich all hours of the day, or avoid the public spectacle.
