Day of the Locust

A detailed Summary of Day of the Locust

The Book and film The Day of the Locust are both similar yet create different pictures. Even though the film is almost word for word with the book the slight differences between them show us different parts of Nathanael West vision of Hollywood. The book shows Hollywood as the place that corrupts the dreams of the ignorant, foolish, and naive. The film shows Hollywood to be a corrupts world of its own that only cares about the image it presents rather then the effects it has on others. From my point view the book does a better job on letting us understand the characters and their motivations for their actions. The film shows the way Hollywood tries to hide behind its self so that now one knows where the fantasy end and reality starts.

The book and the film each have their own versions of characters. The book Adore is not the demon child from hell that the film portrays him as. The book makes him look more like a normal child.

"Tod knew the game the child was playing. He used to play it himself when he was small. If Homer reached to pick up the purse, thinking there was money in it, he would yank it away and scream with laughter."(195)

He plays the same games any normal child would play but most likely du

The book allows for a lot more depth into the characters. You can see the reasons why Tod paints Faye Greener. Tod's reasons for coming to California to find a reason to continue painting instead of just illustration. His fascination with the people who come to California to die. Why Homer a man so out of place in Hollywood moves there. Homer's hands and how they seem to act on their own and Homers fight to control.

"He lay stretched out on the bed, collecting his senses and testing the different parts of his body. Every part was awake but his hands. They still slept. He was not surprised. They demanded special attention, had always demanded it. When he had been a child, he used to stick pins into them and once had even thrust them into a fire. Now he used only cold water."(56)

Events in the book and film also differ in their importance. The film make the accident at Waterloo takes on a lot more important in the movie. It stress the fact that the producers agree that the warning sings were posted even though the sings were actually in a can. When the Tod confronts Claude about this he say's "Would it have made a difference." This helps to clearly define the corruption in Hollywood. In the book Tod sees the ac

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nathanael West, Claude Estes, Homer Hollywood, Nathaneal West, Alice Don't, Greener Tod's, Day Locust, Joan Schwartzen, Claude Film, Jerry Appis, book film, film hollywood, normal child, claude estes, hollywood corrupts, hollywood book, day locust,

Approximate Word count = 824
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Day of the Locust

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