The Day Of The Locust Literary Analysis

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The Day of the Locust and Frankenstein are uniquely telling the same story, the story of Hollywood. The characters in both the novel and the film share great similarities, as Sarver explains with Homer and the monster. A very similar comparison can be drawn between Faye and Dr. Frankenstein. Their relationship is dependent upon Sarver’s parallel, because Faye is to Homer as Frankenstein is to the monster. The connection between Faye and the doctor lies in their utter disregard for those around them and a false sense of their ability to maneuver life and death.
West depicts Faye as a beautiful young woman, desirable by any reasonable man. Unfortunately, their desires could be satisfied, as she gave herself up to just about anyone. Faye sacrificed
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As shown in the characters of Faye and Frankenstein, they see their existence as finite, but their impact on the world as infinite. Faye wants to become a star so large that she is remembered for decades, that her image is glorified. Similarly, Frankenstein wants to play god, creating life and changing the future of human capabilities. In both cases, they see and end to their existence, and a time limit on their quest for fame. That explains their irreverence toward human life, and their willingness to do just about anything to achieve their goal. Life and death is a quintessential concept in Frankenstein, as the premise of the doctor’s work is not creating life, but giving life to the dead. He seeks to extend beyond human capabilities and be venerated with godly status. In the same way, Faye is in a state of death, not living but merely existing. She has the same goal as Frankenstein, giving life to the dead, herself in this …show more content…
Frankenstein is representative of the society that bred them. They were surrounded by people who were tired of life, simply living for the next spectacle. West writes of Tod’s painting, “For the faces of its members, he was using [...] the people who come to California to die [...] who can only be stirred by the promise of miracles and then only to violence” (West 201). The two characters simply wished to be on the side of society that provided the miracle to others. Faye wished to share the essence of her beauty and the image she had surrounded herself with. Frankenstein wanted to present a literal miracle, bringing the dead back to life. Ironically, neither of their miracles impressed anyone, but the resulting violence grasped crowds of people. The drama of Faye and her relationships, destroying men’s hearts, drew more men to her. In Frankenstein, the chance to form a mob and kill a “monster” excites everyone. The key element to this comparison is that in both stories, once the action is over, everyone returns to their boring lives, some calm event, and forget about the previous chaos. They quickly forget the past and hope for the future, just as Faye and the doctor do.
Sarver’s analysis of The Day of the Locust and Frankenstein details the relationship between Homer and the monster. With that, a parallel can be drawn to a juxtaposition of Faye and Dr. Frankenstein. With every sympathetic victim comes a character to abuse them with a false

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