The Santa Ana Winds
...na winds it is clear that the winds are no less than malicious. As the Santa Ana wind makes its way through the environment, it leaves a path of destruction. Just before the wind arrives, there is a sense in the air that it is coming. There is a sense of “tension,” and a feeling that “something [is] uneasy” throughout the atmosphere. In addition, there is an “unnatural stillness” in the area. The sky’s “yellow cast” means that something sickly and unnatural was about to occur, something that usually was seen during “earthquake weather” that immediately frightened people. Alongside the sky, is the abnormality that the “heat [is] surreal,” giving people a feeling that something is not in sync with how it should be. People hear “peacocks screaming in the night,” a sound so chilling that it makes the atmosphere terrifying. The uneasiness from the wind travels down through the air to land. The wind begins by “drying the hills…to the flashpoint” where the wind builds up its momentum until it gets to the point where it cannot get any worse. Beyond the hills, people can “see smoke back in the canyons,” which emphasize the winds’ destructive nature. Because of the intense destruction, people hear “sirens in the night” that signals to people that something bad has happened. Finally the wind moves on down to the water giving the same uneasy feeling to the people. At first the “Pacific [turns] ominously glossy,” and there is an “eerie absence of surf” which suggests that something frightening is about to happen. Didion chooses to use the words “ominous” and “eerie” because they bring a sense of intimidation to the reader. The wind creates a destructive, malevolent environment to the area of Los Angeles with its frightening effects. Didion describes the malevolent effects the Santa Ana winds on the people. At first it is evident that people’s behavior starts to deteriorate. Before the wind arrives, “the baby frets” and “the maid sulks” because they become irritable. Didion uses short, parallel sentences to mirror the attitude of the people. Didion recalls that her “only neighbor would not come out of her house for days,” during the Santa Ana while “her husband roamed the place with a machete.” The Santa Ana caused Didion’s neighbor to become paranoid about going outside, which is understandable considering her husband carries a machete around the house also because of paranoia. In addition, “the children become unmanageable” because of the wind. Didion uses the detail that even children do not act normal during the wind and cannot be controlled. Even illnesses get worse during the Santa Ana and “doctors hear about headache and nausea and allergies, about ‘nervousness’ and ‘depression.’ “ The people believe that the strength of the wind is so powerful that the “surgeons are said to watch the wind because blood does not clot normally.” Perhaps the well-known force of the Santa Ana is what has lead to the many folktales and legends about it which reveal its malicious character. Raymond Chandler, who is most widely known for his mysterious, dark novels, writes about the malevolent...