Marrying Absurd

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In her essay Marrying Absurd, Joan Didion criticizes American society by using Las Vegas weddings to show American's naivety. At the beginning of the essay, Didion lists facts about Las Vegas weddings, such as "a bride must swear that she is eighteen or has parental permission". This begins a trend through the piece where the audience sees how absurd weddings are. The fact that she only has to swear she is eighteen, without providing any proof, makes the weddings seem unofficial. By saying "nothing else is required" Didion highlights how little requirements there are. She then tells us about the last day "anyone could improve his draft status merely by getting married". The quote she uses of Mr. James A. Brennan, where he brags about how fast he was able to marry couples, further contributes to the superficiality of the weddings. In this case, it appears that the only reason these couples are getting married is to avoid going to war.

In the second paragraph, Didion claims that Las Vegas is "allegorical of American settlements". She also uses paradoxes to describe Las Vegas such as there being "no time in Las Vegas" and Las Vegas being a "geographical implausibility". Didion uses these paradoxes to show that Las Vegas "has no connection with 'real' life".

Didion finishes the piece with a description of a Las Vegas wedding she attended. By using this personal experience, Didion increases her ethos and the credibility of the piece. The ending quote of a bride saying that the wedding lived up to her expectations connects back to Didion's main point that American society is naive.

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