"At the edge of the known world there is only water, water as a definite presence, water as the end to which even the island will eventually come, and a certain restlessness prevails" (page 84).

Welcome to O'ahu, the staging area for "The Immutable Hill," a resource for students and teachers of Joan Didion's novel, Democracy.

Like the island of O'ahu in the novel, this room functions as your crossroads to the rest of this learning environment. This virtual environment is set up like a wheel, with spokes emanating out in several directions from the center--all your moves through the environment must occur through this room. The design is meant to enforce the idea that Hawai'i is the "Crossroads of the Pacific."

In rooms linked to from here you can access further rooms or pick up objects meant to give you a better image or an enhanced understanding of Didion's many cultural, geographic, historic, and literary allusions and/or references. Along the way, you'll read questions meant to direct your thinking about the images and information you encounter. After you've visited this space, take 30 minutes and write about how visiting has affected your reading of Democracy.