The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West is a modernist novel told primarily from the point of view of young Tod Hackett, a recent graduate of the Yale School of Fine Arts who has arrived in Depression-era Hollywood as a production designer. Because Tod is an outsider, his experiences in the novel allow him to observe the version of Hollywood that most never see, full of fake, masked individuals. Tod also observes another group of people, “people of a different kind” (p. 2); they are middle-class Midwesterners who “stare” (p. 2) at the artificial beings around them. According to Tod these people “came to California to die” (p. 2). Nathaniel West based The Day of the Locust largely on his experiences in 1930s Hollywood. Like the main character, West had also lived in a dilapidated apartment and observed the various inhabitants of Hollywood. When the novel was first published, it perplexed many readers who had expectations for a story filled with fascinating, accomplished artists and filmmakers. However, Nathaniel West purposely did not use these characters in his novel and instead decided to focus on the majority of people in the town, those who struggle to succeed. The central theme of The Day of the Locust focuses on the people who live on the fringes of Hollywood and their quest to satisfy, or repress, their desires. These people include Faye Greener, an aspiring actress, Homer Simpson, a seemingly harmless Midwesterner, and many other characters Tod encounters throughout the novel. In Day of the Locust, Faye Greener falls into the category of the insincere, masked type. One of Nathaniel West's many characterizations of 1930s Hollywood was that it was a place... of paper... increasingly difficult to repress. When he sees Faye sleeping with another man, he packs his bags and decides to return to Iowa. He sits at the bus stop when Adoré, a child protagonist, throws a stone at his head. This is the moment Homer finally reaches his breaking point. He reacts by throwing the child to the ground and repeatedly stomping on him. Nathanael West uses Homer in his novel as an everyman. West points out that not all Hollywood residents lead glamorous lifestyles. Most have lives similar to everyone else. Overall, The Day of the Locust bucks the conventional view of Depression-era Hollywood in West's time. Nathanael West uses his experiences living in Hollywood to create elements of the novel that reveal aspects of Hollywood that most never see. Today, The Day of the Locust is considered one of the best novels written about Hollywood.