Nathaniel West's, “The Day of the Locusts” tells a short story of Tod Hackett, who has only been in Hollywood, California, for only three months, has already recognized California for what it really is, a sham. Everywhere Tod goes, he sees people and objects in the city pretending to be more grand than they actually are. West realizes that though full of appearances, California does hold a vast array of opportunities for those looking to be successful. At the same time, West understands how horrible it is for these dreams to fail as well.
Throughout West's essay, there is a constant rhythm of motion. Throughout the entire essay there is not a moment where the main character actually stops or rests. Even when Tod Hackett takes a moment to watch night fall, his environment does not rest as “the edges of the trees burn with a pale violet light and their centers. . turned from deep purple to black.” Even those who “loitered on the corners or stood with their backs to the shop windows. . [would] stare at everyone who passed” while “others moved rapidly, darting into stores and cocktail bars.” (334) As part of the California dream is prosperity, the connotation of hard work and success go hand-in-hand. West mocks even those that are idle to pretend to be in a constant state of action even though it is unnecessary.
While on his way walking home Tod sees a “fat lady in.. [a] yachting cap. . going shopping, not boating; [a] man in [a] Norfolk jacket. . returning, not from a mountain, but an insurance office.” As he walks further into the valley it is apparent that as an artist, Tod is offended by the distasteful houses however he “blames [the] shape on the materials used. . [as] he notices that they were all of plaster, lath, and paper. . [instead of] steel, stone, and brick.” West gives Tod's thoughts a sense of forgiveness, while it must have all seemed to be too much for Tod when he first moved out to California, after three months of living there seems to not faze Tod anymore due working on the Hollywood set.
Summary and Response
"The Queen of California" by Garci Rodriguez Ordonez de Montalvo
The Queen of California
This passage is about the first written reference to "California" the
novel The Adventures of Esplandián written in 1510 by the Spanish
writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. He describes the island as a place
populated by black Amazons with a beautiful queen, Calafia, who wanted
to discover the world. The island had griffins whom the amazons
captured at a young age and brought up, feeding them with men they
captured and their sons. Calafia begins to ignite desire to explore
among her best warriors by showing them the rewards and challenging
them to not live as brutes as their ancestors did.
It's remarkable that in 1510 Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo depicted
California with such accuracy. Although California is not an island
and does not contain Amazons or Griffins, his depiction of the women
and the desires of the people on the" island" ring true today. I have
run into many people who observed that the women here in California
were very independent and wanting to live as men for example wanting
to have sexual relations the way men do. Calafia inspires her warriors
to embark on an expedition by telling them that their grandparent were
"buried alive" and without "fame and glory" they lived as brutes. One
of the reasons I love living in California is because its a place for
the dreamers. It is not just in Hollywood that people seek the fame
and glory all over the state in all different professions,
Californians aspire to not live life as their grandparents did to be
courageous and seek fame and glory. Nowadays people move to California
from all over the world coming to Hollywood in search of fame.
"A People, A Place, A Dream" by James Rawls
Although the California dream is undefinable due to the fact that
there are many versions to it that are constantly changing, California
is the land of opportunity and success. It's reputation of gorgeous
sunny weather is said to be reflected in the health of its
inhabitants, the visions of romance and freedom attracted many to
California. With so much promise, great expectations and rise in the
population people began to see the reality of failure. The state
became the example for a place filled with immorality, drug and
alcohol abuse, suicide, murders and an example to the rest of the
country about what lack of adherence to tradition can cause.
California began to limit the growth realising the downfalls that came
with being the most populous state. With its focus on the environment,
and building and using clean renewable energy California's past
reputation is still ongoing as a place for opportunity and success. It
is the third richest state in the country and personal income in the
state is 13% higher than the national average.
Response
This article absolutely echoes my thoughts on California, the state is
filled with people after success and opportunities whether it be in
the bright lights in Hollywood or the engineering community of silicon
valley. When I travel out of state I realize there is a stigma about
California and its mostly that the weather is beautiful but the people
are immoral and everyone is a movie star. Its easy to see that this
hasn't changed from what people have thought and felt in the past. I
do understand that when the expectations are higher in life so is the
let down and that can cause disappointment and negative feelings about
California that lead one to believe its not a place of opportunity and
success. However I do not agree I believe that being able to live in a
state where achieving the best and the highest goals and living a good
life is the standard , sets you up for success. After all if you cant
achieve what you cant conceive then even with all the immorality the
fact that innovation, vision, imagination, ambition and dreams are
encouraged is the reason why our state is so successful.
"New Perspective on the Dream" by Denise Spooner
Since post world war II there has been a large number of people
immigrating from the Midwest into California in search of freedom and
to escape the restrictiveness of their own communities . In the
Midwestern towns people relied heavily on each which built tight knit
towns ,this however caused the towns and communities to view anyone
or anything different as a threat. People were judged based on class,
ethnicity and religious identification, with differences in any of
these causing discrimination against those belonging to the minority
group. Immigrants from the Midwest viewed southern California as an
escape from the judgement they felt limited expression. Although many
of the migrants associated California with more freedom especially
post world war II there was evidence that some communities had more
freedom in certain areas such as Iowa and freedom in dress. However
there was also the lure of the tale from poor to riches and fame that
was enticing for the immigrants.
When anyone mentions the Midwest the first thing that comes
to my mind is everything the article talked about. I picture small
towns and communities in the middle of nowhere where there is little
to do and everyone knows each other. Although I find this type of
community to be quite charming when depicted in novels or in movies, I
realise that the closest I have been to having this type of community
was in middle school and high school. Although there are benefits to
having such an environment there are more fall backs. Lack of privacy
, judgement and formation of cliques or social classifications.
Although California isn't free of these ailments there is a social
stigma that encourages individuality and independence.
“Under the Wire” by Francisco Jimenez
The story is about a family from Mexico who have a nice, quiet and settled life in Mexico but then decides to move immigrate to up North in hopes of a better life. Their journey is long, especially for the children. When they arrive at a camp to find work, they find out that they wouldn’t be able to work for another two weeks until the fruit was ready for harvest. They were told that they would find work right away but they must wait to work because they needed the funds for California. The two young boys play near the railroad tracks and one day, the conductor drops off a sack of fruit and candy for the boys and they both believe that it comes from California.
I found that this story was more than just what was literally being told. It shows us how much people are willing to move their entire lives at the chance of better opportunities. How the parents have to wait for work also parallels to how they also have to wait for opportunities in America as well because they are not legal. The sack of fruit and candy that the boys believe comes from California represents what they all believe California can provide. Not only can California provide the necessities for survival, the oranges and apples, but you can have luxuries as well, the candies.
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