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
Like the painting, the sketch exhibits a number of West 's finest imaging and clearly and convincingly depicts all of the feeling of a frightful scene. The larger oil on canvas work isn 't one portrait, but rather, a
The American flag consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, with seven red stripes alternating among six white. In the upper left corner there is a rectangular blue space that contains fifty white stars. The thirteen stripes symbolize the thirteen original colonies of the United states of America and the stars represent the fifty states of the Union. White is said to symbolize purity and innocence. Red symbolizes strength and courage, and blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance and justice. The flag in simple words is a piece of cloth that has meaning. The flag stands for everything in our country’s past.
their possessions in to the street. Both the west and south side were cover in
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)
Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson were raised among the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Theirs was an insulated, close-knit world of grass-roofed cottages, cattle herders, and tribal councils. The lions and pythons that prowled beyond the village fences were the greatest threat they knew.
The Great Chicago Fire was one of the significant devastation that happened in the eighteenth century. Through this tragic event, hundreds of people died and thousands of buildings were completely destroyed in the fire. Before, the city was flourishing as more people traveled and decided to call Chicago their home. After the fire destroyed most of the surrounding area, people began blaming one another for the deaths of all the people. As time passed, Chicago slowly began to rebuild like never before. Although the city of Chicago continued to grow before the fire, after, the city boomed with the abundance of money and people. Moreover, because there was destruction, the people of Chicago, Illinois did not allow a fire to stop them from creating more opportunities for the future. The city has changed from the fire, but because of the help that was received, it was able to get rebuilt, and invite new individuals to explore the wondrous city of Chicago.
Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) explores the intermingling of public and private realms, puncturing the illusion of the former and unveiling the grim and often disturbing reality of the latter. By delving into the personal delusions of its characters and showing the devastation caused by disrupting those fantasies, the film provides not only a commentary on the industry of which it is a product but also a shared anxiety about the corrupting influence of external perception. Narrated by a dead man, centering on a recluse tortured by her own former stardom, and concerning a once-promising director who refuses to believe his greatest star could ever be forgotten, the work dissects a multitude of illusory folds to reveal an ultimately
Pollock explicates that the once again the reason for these differences goes back to the fact of the differences of men and women in the social realm. She describes the fact that the proximity of figures in their works of art, such as Morisot's painting The Harbor at Lorient. In this painting the figure is seated in the extreme right of the picture, isolated. To Pollock, Morisot was trying to show "...the boundary between the spaces of masculinity and of femininity inscribed at the level of both what spaces are open to men and women and what relation a man or woman has to the space and its occupant (Pollock, 251)". Pollock goes on to state how Cassatt does the same thing, just in a different way. Cassatt uses proximity in her works usually by making the figure dominate the work, therefore "The viewer is forced into a confrontation or conversation with the painted figure while dominance and familiarity are denied by the device of the averted head (Pollock, 251)".
We recently watched the film Paris is Burning, a documentary about black drag queens in Harlem and their culture surrounding balls. Directly related we also read two feminist critiques, Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion by Judith Butler and Is Paris Burning by bell hooks. Two areas of critique I focus on and question are the critiques regarding the filmmaker, audience and drag queens and how they participate to reinforce a heterosexual racist patriarchy. Furthermore I ask if this line of investigation is the most beneficial way to view and understand the film and its various participants.
“April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you!? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy,” these are the lyrics Sublime uses in their song ‘April 26, 1992’ to describe what happened during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. “First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire,” people ,running through the streets, had no pity when demolishing small businesses and taking what ever they may want from them. The streets, neighborhoods, businesses were destroyed by angry protesters. Their reasons were clear, all they wanted was some
Many people believe that the American flag represents the pride they have in their country. Anyone who was to damage the flag is often seen as “un-patriotic” or even as a “terrorist”. That, however, is simply untrue. Burning the American flag is one of the greatest patriotic acts a person can do.
African Americans in Los Angeles and throughout the United States have experienced racial oppression for centuries. (Background about racial oppression by the LAPD). Rodney King was an African American motorist who inspired positive police reforms after he had a brutal conflict and was beaten by four members of the LAPD. Rodney King’s encounter resulted in a social and legal compromise because the incident made people aware of police brutality, gave African Americans a voice against police abuse, and resulted in reforms to the way that the LAPD responds to communities of color.
The United States is well-known for its principles of freedom and democracy, which is demonstrated through the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause. Thus, American citizens can openly discuss political matters; criticize the President and his Cabinet on television, radio talk show or in the newspaper; or publicly protest against the government tax policy. However, Free Speech protection becomes debatable when some American citizens burn the nation’s flag to express their disagreement to the government. The act of burning the American Flag should be constitutionally protected under the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause because the act is a symbolic expression that communicates an individual’s idea or opinion about his nation; and that
The sheer physical nature of fire is to consume all fuel that lay in its path. That is exactly what happened in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911. The building itself was reported to be fire proof, but what about its contents? The amount of unused cotton and other fabric scraps that were piled up were ample amounts of fuel just waiting to be consumed by a spark. The business owners kept what little exits and escape routes the building had locked for fear of a thieving employee. The employees mostly took the elevators up and down the building, limiting their knowledge of possible escape routes. Given those three factors combined, it was only a matter of time before disaster would strike.
“To Build a Fire” is a short story written by Jack London. It is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner who is traveling to the Yukon Territory with a dog as his companion. The miner is the protagonist and the dog companion is called the foil. The dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. “The central motif of “To Build a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature.” (Short Story Criticism) The most argued point in the short story is the reason of the protagonist death. “Some critics believe that it was his lack of intuition and imagination that lead to his death, while others say that he dies because of panic.” (Short Story Criticism) The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” struggles in