the day of the locust
A detailed Summary of the day of the locust
Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust tells the story of people who have come to California in
search of the American Dream. They travel west hoping to escape less than perfect lives and pursue
success in Hollywood. The characters in this novel dream of a life of luxury, having lots of money, and
living happily ever after. They eventually come to the realization that the seemingly picture perfect life
that California represents is not as easy to attain as they once thought. The characters in The Day of
the Locust grow discontented and disappointed with their lives and embittered towards the world, which
instigates the downfall of this lower level of Hollywood society. Todd Hackett, Faye Greener, and Homer
Simpson all depict failed attempts to achieve the American Dream.
Todd Hackett is a main character who lives with the continuous threat of failure while he
attempts to fulfill his personal dreams amongst the lower classes of Hollywood. Hackett comes to
California hoping for a career designing movie scenery, but he faces many obstacles that he must
overcome before he can move up in the Hollywood society. Todd's life begins to go downhill as he
associates more frequently with the lower levels of Hollywood s

wanted that she would leave him to find someone who could. As Faye faces her guilt for her father's
a prevalent example of Hollywood's degenerative impact upon those in search of materialistic success.
ociety. This prevents him from climbing
resentment..."( ). These people are left feeling cheated of their imaginary picture perfect life; their
materialism and superficiality can stem form the pursuit of the American Dream.
demise, she furthermore sacrifices her moral beliefs when she works as a prostitute to afford her father's
regular free for all" (183), where people find themselves swallowed up by a shallow world of hate, lies,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Faye Greener, Day Locust, Homer Simpson, Hollywood Hackett, American Dream, Hollywood Homer's, Miss Greener's, Todd Hackett, Shoop Miquel, faye greener, day locust, homer simpson, hollywood society, american dream, regular free 183, todd's life, lower levels, free 183, love faye, dream life, lower levels hollywood, characters day locust, picture perfect life,
Approximate Word count = 898
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
Category: Miscellaneous
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