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| The Day of the Locust | |
 1939 first edition cover |
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| Author | Nathanael West |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | May 16, 1939 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 238 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0451523488 |
The Day of the Locust is a 1939 novel by American author Nathanael West, set in Hollywood, California during the Great Depression, depicting the alienation and desperation of a disparate group of individuals whose dreams of success have effectively failed.
The novel was adapted for the screen in 1975.
Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.[1]
Major characters
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (April 2008) |
The characters in West's novel are most likely based on the actors, artists, businessmen, dreamers and vagabonds West met while working as a screenwriter in 1930s Hollywood. All of the characters are outcasts who have come to Hollywood in search of something or another. For the most part, West's characters are intentionally shallow and iconic, and "…derive from all the B-grade genre films of the period…" (Simon, 523). West's characters are Hollywood stereotypes. The novel's protagonist, Tod Hackett, is a set painter who aspires to artistic greatness. In the first chapter of the novel, the narrative voice announces: "Yes, despite his appearance, Tod was really a very complicated young man with a whole set of personalities, one inside the other like a nest of Chinese boxes. And 'The Burning of Los Angeles,' a picture he was soon to paint, definitely proved he had talent."
Over the course the novel, we are introduced to several minor characters, each corresponding to a given Hollywood trope. There is Harry Greener the fading vaudevillian, his daughter, Faye the starlet, Claude Estee the big-time producer, Homer Simpson (not to be confused with Homer Simpson, protagonist of the FOX animated sitcom The Simpsons), the hopelessly clumsy "everyman," Abe Kusich the diminutive, yet vicious gangster, Earle Shoop the cowboy and Miguel the Mexican his sidekick, Adore Loomis the child star/prima donna and Adore's doting mother .
The narrative voice follows either Tod or Homer through most of Day, with the reader experiencing the world of 1930s Hollywood through their eyes. The novel is essentially episodic, with each episode either introducing a character or highlighting interactions between one character and another. These interactions are just as cliché as the characters; at one point in the novel, Abe picks a fight with Earle; at another, Harry shows up at Homer's doorstep, desperately trying to sell him silver polish. Tod, Claude, Homer, Abe, Earle and Miguel all pursue Faye in turn; each in their own stereotypic manner.
Works cited
- Simon, Richard Keller (1993). "Between Capra and Adorno: West's Day of the Locust and the Movies of the 1930s". Modern Language Quarterly 54 (4): p. 524.
References
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- This page was last modified on 23 August 2008, at 16:08.
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