Analysis of The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West Essay -- The Day o

Analysis of The twenty-four hours of the Locust by Nathanael West Nathanael Wests The Day of the Locust tells the story of people who have come to California in searchof the American Dream. They travel west hoping to escape less than perfect lives and play along success inHollywood. The characters in this novel dream of a life of luxury, having lots of money, and livinghappily ever after. They eventually come to the realization that the evidently picture perfect life thatCalifornia represents is not as easy to attain as they once thought. The characters in The Day of theLocust grow dissatisfy and disappointed with their lives and embittered towards the world, whichinstigates the downfall of this lower level of Hollywood society. Todd Hackett, Faye Greener, and HomerSimpson all depict failed attempts to achieve the American Dream. Todd Hackett is a main character who lives with the continuous scourge of failure while heattempts to fulfill his personal dreams amongst the lower classes of Hollywood. Hackett comes toCalifornia hoping for a career designing movie scenery, but he faces many obstacles that he mustovercome before he can move up in the Hollywood society. Todds life begins to go downhill as heassociates more frequently with the lower levels of Hollywood society. This prevents him from climbingthe ladder of fame which he so desperately aspires to accomplish. He is shown a darker side ofHollywood which plays with his emotions and distracts him from h...