The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West is, to say the least, an eye-opening book. It is mainly focused around Tod Hackett, a man that recently moved to Hollywood from being at Yale to take a job as a designer. Throughout the book Tod sees himself as higher than those around him; he is disgusted by the materialistic, shallow people that overrun the town. Eventually, though, Tod gets sucked into the Hollywood life just like the rest of the population. He becomes materialistic, to the point of not knowing the difference between himself and the siren of a police car. No matter how much he tried to not be, Tod was taken over by Hollywood's corrupt ways.
This book really made me think. It made me realize just how many people of the modern day are truly corrupt and materialistic, just like the people of Hollywood that Nathanael West describes. To be "cool" and "popular" you need a two hundred dollar pair of Ugg boots and the latest iPhone. It seems as if now money is more important than getting good grades in school or being a genuine person. It is simply not right. Material things should not define a person, their personality, work ethics, and drive should. Reading The Day of the Locust has made me second guess how I judge people and showed me what is really important in life. Nathanael West wrote a truly inspirational book.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Obsession and Infatuation
One of the main focuses in The Day of the Locus is Tod's obsession with Faye Greener. His life practically revolves around her. He decided to rent a room in the same building as the Greeners simply because of Faye. He drew pictures of her and cherished a still from a movie she was an extra in that she signed for him. Tod fantasized about Faye on a regular basis; most of these fantasies involved a forced sexual encounter with her or, more bluntly, raping her. At the beginning of the novel Faye was fairly innocent and, throughout the entire story, she was gorgeous, attracting Tod and fueling his obsession. However, as the story unfolds, Tod realizes that she is simply a performer with no real emotions and that, because of this, all of the flirting Tod thought she was doing with him was empty. This created a violent reaction in Tod; he no longer wanted anything to do with her. He put her pictures away and didn't see her for months. His obsession was over; but he still felt bitter towards Faye.
In an indirect sort of way I can relate to this. I can understand Tod's obsession and his bitterness towards Faye; however, obviously, I cannot imagine wanting to rape somebody, no matter how attractive he or she is. I have what I like to call an infatuation issue. Nearly everything in my life I either absolutely love and need to know everything about, or I just don't care at all. Sometimes, I get a false view of how something really is; I fall in love with what it is not, then, when the truth comes out, my obsession with it diminishes and I am left with a feeling of almost bitterness. This happens when I find a new band I really like; I get all of their music and fall in love. Then I find out they can't actually sing and are awful live. It makes me lose respect for them, get angry that I actually liked them, and I stop listening to this band. All because of one thing.
This whole obsession/infatuation problem can work in the opposite way though, too. For example, I started listening to Falling in Reverse simply because Ronnie Radke was the lead singer and I had liked a CD he made with his previous band. I liked the music, but was not too concerned about the band. I got tickets to go to one of their concerts then started following Ronnie Radke on Twitter; he constantly tweeted nice things so I gained more respect for the band. The one thing that pushed me over the edge was how amazing they are live, though. Now, I'm completely obsessed. I know all of the members of the band's names and am following every single one of them on Twitter. So, clearly, Tod Hackett and I seem to share the same obsession issues.
In an indirect sort of way I can relate to this. I can understand Tod's obsession and his bitterness towards Faye; however, obviously, I cannot imagine wanting to rape somebody, no matter how attractive he or she is. I have what I like to call an infatuation issue. Nearly everything in my life I either absolutely love and need to know everything about, or I just don't care at all. Sometimes, I get a false view of how something really is; I fall in love with what it is not, then, when the truth comes out, my obsession with it diminishes and I am left with a feeling of almost bitterness. This happens when I find a new band I really like; I get all of their music and fall in love. Then I find out they can't actually sing and are awful live. It makes me lose respect for them, get angry that I actually liked them, and I stop listening to this band. All because of one thing.
This whole obsession/infatuation problem can work in the opposite way though, too. For example, I started listening to Falling in Reverse simply because Ronnie Radke was the lead singer and I had liked a CD he made with his previous band. I liked the music, but was not too concerned about the band. I got tickets to go to one of their concerts then started following Ronnie Radke on Twitter; he constantly tweeted nice things so I gained more respect for the band. The one thing that pushed me over the edge was how amazing they are live, though. Now, I'm completely obsessed. I know all of the members of the band's names and am following every single one of them on Twitter. So, clearly, Tod Hackett and I seem to share the same obsession issues.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Just how Materialistic can Tod become?
In Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust, he shows just how materialistic people truly can be. I have always been struck by how much money the people of Dowagiac spend on material things like phones and clothing, but I did not realize to what extent someone could take this. Nathanael West opened my eyes, though. He showed that even people who scoff at their object-orientated peers can themselves become materialistic, sometimes to the point of not knowing the difference between themselves and the objects around them.
I was struck by this right at the end of the book as Tod sits in the police car, not knowing whether he is making the siren noise or if it is the actual police car. When he does figure out the noise is not coming from his own mouth, though, he simply joins in and makes himself into a siren. Tod was so disgusted by the materialistic people that surrounded him in Hollywood. He claimed he would never be that way. However, he became too influenced by the people he was constantly surrounded by; Tod was swept up in the wave of Hollywood and all of its object-orientated inhabitants and became just like them, turning into nothing more than an object himself. This just proves that if one surrounds oneself, even subconsiously, with people that act a certain way, eventually, one will fall to their habits.
I was struck by this right at the end of the book as Tod sits in the police car, not knowing whether he is making the siren noise or if it is the actual police car. When he does figure out the noise is not coming from his own mouth, though, he simply joins in and makes himself into a siren. Tod was so disgusted by the materialistic people that surrounded him in Hollywood. He claimed he would never be that way. However, he became too influenced by the people he was constantly surrounded by; Tod was swept up in the wave of Hollywood and all of its object-orientated inhabitants and became just like them, turning into nothing more than an object himself. This just proves that if one surrounds oneself, even subconsiously, with people that act a certain way, eventually, one will fall to their habits.
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