Painted by Tornado Thien.
“‘I’m going to be a star someday,” Faye in The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West declared, “‘If I’m not, I’ll commit suicide’” (216). Faye reminds me of the mob from the painting, “The Burning of Los Angeles”, the people entranced by the idealized version of Los Angeles who grow resentful or lose their will when they realize moving to Los Angeles, many to be in the film industry, did not automatically make them happy or successful. I believe the fire in “The Burning of Los Angeles” is a representation of the anger that is boiling inside people that is destined to break free. The fire foreshadows the violence and anger that is released from many of the Los Angeles citizens at the end of the story.
The crowd gathered for a movie premiere and the chance to glimpse famous actors. The crowd is eager and agitated while waiting to see celebrities. Their uneasiness feels like a revolt against Hollywood and the boredom they have experience after discovering their dreams would most likely never come true. While Tod watches the restless crowd, West notes that if policemen were going to arrest someone, “they joked good-naturedly with the culprit, making light of it until they got him around the corner, then the whaled him with their clubs” (290). I feel like the police are a personified version of Los Angeles in the previous sentence; it seems inviting, then as soon as you trust it, it turns on you.
The fight that breaks out is a horrifying depiction of humanity at its worst as it paints people as preferring violence over boredom. The fight begins when Adore, a boy, tries to play a prank on Homer out of boredom or cruelty. He begins with a simple purse trick, but when that does not get his attention, the boy throws a rock at Homer’s face. Already emotionally broken, Homer snaps at this act and he hurriedly attacks the boy. Tod tries to intervene, but the riled up crowd quickly joins the fight and violence consumes everyone. Rather than a natural disaster, like a fire, acting as the destructive force, people are destroying each other.
P.S. Sorry of the book pages are different from yours; I am using The Collected Works of Nathanael West.
We'll Always Have Los Angeles 