How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
On stage he was a complete failure and knew it. Yet he claimed to have once come very close to success. (6.7)
Sounds like a real charmer. Although he has long since retired from the clowning game, Harry is unable to forget about his past and stop wondering what his career could have been. Over time, this eats away at him.
Quote #2
After trying to get a job by inserting a small advertisement in Variety ("...'some producer should put Mr. Greener into a big revue…' The Times"), he had come to Hollywood. (6.15)
Of course, Harry conveniently leaves out the part that says this would in fact be a bad idea, but the guy tends to play fast and loose with the truth. After all, how valuable is truth if it doesn't help you get to where you're going? One might make an argument about "morality" or something, but morality isn't worth much in Hollywood.
Quote #3
"My father isn't really a peddler," she said, abruptly. "He's an actor. I'm an actress. My mother was also an actress, a dancer. The theatre is in our blood." (11.147)
Like father, like daughter. Faye conveniently leaves out a few facts: that her father was a clown, not a movie star, and that she's only been an extra in movies. Like her old man, however, Faye has a finely tuned ability to sell herself and throw circumstances and good taste to the wind. And it works like a charm.
Quote #4
"I'm going to be a star some day," she announced as though daring him to contradict her [...] "If I'm not, I'll commit suicide." (11.154)
Yeeesh, talk about commitment. Although we seriously doubt that Faye would commit suicide, the fact that she would drop this nugget so causally into conversation shows the extent of her desire for success. Man, this book makes us feel like we're taking crazy pills.
Quote #5
One evening, they talked about what she did [...] when she wasn't working as an extra. She told him that she often spent the whole day making up stories. (13.70)
This is an important scene because it says a lot about Faye's weird sense of ambition. She doesn't have dreams. She doesn't have passions. She doesn't even have talent, if we're being real. What she is good at, however, is thinking of plans for the future, even if those plans have no shot at ever becoming reality.
Quote #6
He agreed and she described her plan. It was very vague until she came to what she considered would be its results, then she went into concrete details. (13.16)
Faye tends to work backwards, starting with her desired outcome and then kind of sort of figuring out how to get there. As it happens, this isn't always the best way to get things done. If nothing else, however, this conversation should show Tod once and for all that he's barking up the wrong tree.
Quote #7
She was living in Homer Simpson's house. The arrangement was a business one. Homer had agreed to board and dress her until she became a star. (19.4)
It's a little weird, sure, but if this arrangement actually helps Faye reach stardom, then it can't be that bad, right? Of course, Homer's obvious attraction toward Faye will make this "business" deal more complicated than a customer service call to Comcast.
Quote #8
She was one of that army of women who drag their children from casting office to casting office and sit for [...] months, waiting for a chance to show what Junior can do. (19.64)
Tod seems caught between hatred and admiration when confronted by Adore's swooning stage-mom. On one hand, he rightfully criticizes her for her obsessive focus on fame and success. On the other, however, he's careful to note the many sacrifices she's made to better her children's lives. What do you think about this one?
Quote #9
She went on and on, telling him how careers are made in the movies and how she intended to make hers. It was all nonsense. (22.35)
Faye reveals herself to be completely ignorant to the reality of show biz when she meets Claude, one of the few characters who are actually successful. It's a pretty hilarious scene. Instead of shutting up and taking tips from a wizened vet, Faye makes a fool of herself by spewing half-baked nonsense taken from magazines.
Quote #10
Tod knew the game the child was playing [...] If Homer reached to pick up the purse, thinking there was money in it, he would yank it away and scream with laughter. (27.42)
This, we think, is the perfect metaphor for ambition in The Day of Locust: as soon as you reach the prize you've been working toward, it's abruptly stolen away from you. After all, do we meet any character who actually realizes his or her ambitions? Claude might fit the bill, sure, but he seems pretty discontent about his life as a producer.