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"Burning of Los Angeles" Essay

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In the book The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West, Tod Hackett is an artist who was scouted to come to Hollywood to learn set and costume designing. After walking around Los Angeles, Tod sees people that are "of a different type"(West 23). Tod wants to paint these people who he believes came to California to die. Throughout the book Tod's painting, "The Burning of Los Angeles", is coming to life. In the last section of the book West has Tod in a mob scene. Tod is painting the people he has met. He is painting Faye; "Faye ran proudly throwing her knees high. Harry stumbled along behind her, holding unto his beloved derby hat with both hands" (West 201). This quote shows Tod's view of Faye and her relationship with her father. …show more content…

These two scenes showed Faye like she was in the painting; she had to be better than everyone and proud to be herself, a selfish woman getting what she wanted. Tod also painted Claude with his turned as he ran to thumb his nose at his pursuers (West 201). Tod saw Claude this way because of the first impression of Claude and his friends. Claude had a huge house that was an exact reproduction of a mansion in Mississippi. After meeting some people Tod is shown a rubber horse in the pool. Tod asks why, the woman responds, "To amuse" (West 39). Tod could not understand why someone would pay money for a rubber horse for amusement. Since Tod saw the house, all the money, the servants, and all the guests, he could imagine him feeling to good to be apart of the group he was painting. Tod also painted Homer who started the mob scene at the theater. He was manipulated by Faye to be a person for her to toy with. Faye would use Homer for his money, his house, and at times his affection. Tod painted him with his big hands clawing the air in anguish. He did this because Homer could not express his feeling when he would ask. Tod saw Homer as a person who needed a friend because he was filled with problems. Tod knew Homer was one of those people who came to Los Angeles to die, but Homer actually came to Los Angeles to get better. I believe he could have painted many other people he met such as Miguel, Earl, and Abe. I think these people also were important

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