The Day of the Locust Chapter 19 Quotes

The Day of the Locust Chapter 19 Quotes

How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote 4

She was smiling, a subtle half-smile uncontaminated by thought. She looked just born, everything moist and fresh, volatile and perfumed. (19.117)

Faye's seeming innocence is what draws so many men to her. Though she tries to cover up this aspect of herself at times, acting instead like the grizzled leading ladies from her favorite Hollywood movies, she can never fully escape her youthful innocence. And why would she want to?

Quote 5

"I'm a raw-foodist, myself," she said. "Dr. Pierce is our leader. You must have seen his ads–'Know-All Pierce-All.'" (19.76)

Of course, it wouldn't be California without some good old-fashioned hippie wackadoodles. (Okay, there weren't actually any hippies around at this point, but whatever.) To Tod, this is more evidence of the emptiness of modern American life. After all, how bad must things have become for people to buy so readily into the false promises of snake-oil salesmen?

Quote 6

The message he had brought to the city was one that an illiterate anchorite might have given decadent Rome. It was a crazy jumble of dietary rules, economics, and Biblical threats. (19.123)

Here's another example of the weird nonsense Hollywood-ians flock to like bees to honey. As Tod mentions, however, the ridiculousness of this message isn't as important as the fact that the entire audience buys into it hook, line, and sinker. There will always be crazy people out there, but you know things are bad when the crazy people are the leaders.