In 1939, Nathanael West published The Day of The Locust. It did not do that well when it was first published, only selling around 1,480 copies. It was only years after West’s death that the novel began to receive acclaim, receiving a movie adaption in 1975. Continuing to receive praise to this day. That is because it presents the three things that define “A Great American Novel”; well written, an interesting story, and themes that still mean something years after the book has been published.
West does not shy away from describing violence and lust in his novel. In one graphic scene, Tod is watching a cock fight at Homer’s house. “A large bubble of blood rose where the beak had been.” (Pg.155). This dark tone is used in both describing the character’s surroundings, but also their thoughts. This is shown when Tod goes to the movies with Faye. After her looking for work to support herself. “Her self-sufficiency made him squirm and the desire to break its smooth surface with a blow, or at least a sudden gesture, became irresistible.” (Pg.141). Certain parts of the novel are hard to read because of these disturbing lines, but it only adds to the story. Showing the unpleasant can allow the reader to get a closer look into the flaws of each of the characters, and make their later actions more real.
The novel starts off following Tod as he goes about his life as a designer on the sets of Hollywood, and ends with him in a massive riot. Even if a reader does not like a lot of violence, the way Tod got to this point still makes for a very interesting story. The plot is easy to follow along with and the characters are also easy to keep track of. However, the novel gets more satirical as it goes on, and by the end it is dripping with satire. This separates itself from other works written about The Great Depression. Making it a very unique story.
The spot where West’s brilliance shines is in the way he shows his themes. He shows one overarching theme of apathy throughout the story. Shown by Tod’s lust for Faye. Tod even tries, drunkenly, to sleep with Faye at her father’s funeral. “That was because her beauty was structural like a tree’s, not a quality of her mind or heart.” (Pg126). Showing his lack of empathy for her situation. He also keeps some of his themes hidden, only for them to show their importance in the ending. An example of this is the idea of “The American Dream” in California. Tod ends up meeting multiple people who travel to California to look for stardom in Hollywood. One of these people is Maybelle Loomis. She takes her son, Adore, to California to make him a child star. “Like California”, she laughed at the idea that anyone might not like it. Why, it’s a paradise on earth!” (Pg.138). Like her, they did not realize how hard it would be and became disgruntled that their dreams were not coming true. This comes to a head in the book’s climax, Homer ends up killing Adore outside a movie theater with an already tense crowd. Pushed over the edge by Adore continually mocking him. This starts a riot with everything falling into chaos, showing “The American Dream”, is not always what it turns out to be.
The themes that West uses in his novel still apply to American society today. People show apathy to others on social media. Bullying them or spreading lies about them without thinking about the things that might be going on in their own life. Even in America today, “The American Dream” can be difficult to achieve even when you’re already an American citizen. Even though The Day of The Locust is disturbing at times, it still holds a lot of truth about American society today. That is why it still receives praise to this very day.
Great American Novels 