Historical Context
West's central concern revolved around the spiritual anguish shadowing the Depression era—an era marked by profound despair and a void of purpose, with a culture powerless to alleviate this torment. W. H. Auden famously dubbed this as "West's disease," where the afflicted were plagued by vibrant inner fantasies and aspirations but found themselves adrift, disconnected from any tangible reality. They had no benchmarks for progress or ways to assert their existence, leaving them to spiral deeper into weakness. During this time, many sought refuge in cinema, historical romances, dance marathons, and jigsaw puzzles, all while sidestepping their disenchantment with the American dream. In West's narratives, these characters, lost beyond mere escapism, lacked homes, community, historical ties, and love beyond a mere carnal connection, devoid of any affirming external realities. West's stark assertion that not even "the Christ dream" could mend these woes, though bleak, rings with unyielding truth.
This predicament, described as a cyclical "disease," offers no salvation except through an apocalyptic upheaval—an eruption potent enough to shatter the cycle. What is required goes beyond mere sedation; it demands a revolutionary cure for the suffering. In the absence of such a remedy, West's humor, laced with pain, reveals that the illusions employed to manage despair—Miss Lonelyhearts' hysteria, Betty's naive innocence, Fay Doyle's overpowering sexuality, Shrike's biting cynicism, the desperate cries of letter writers, and Pete Doyle's skewed sexual morality—remain inescapable.
At the heart of this quandary is Miss Lonelyhearts, a male advice columnist, who emerges as a "priest of our times," caught in the tension between the necessity of illusions and their inherent deceit. His spiritual experiences draw from William James's Varieties of Religious Experience and Starbuck's Psychology of Religion. West outlines a journey through "Chapt. 1 — maladjustment, Chapt. 3 — the need for taking symbols literally... Chapt. 4 — deadness and disorder, Chapt. 5 — self-torture by conscious sinning." Miss Lonelyhearts relives an age-old quest amid the turmoil of the twentieth century.
Style and Technique
Nathanael West's literary works echo the satirical prowess of Jonathan Swift, particularly evident in Swift's "A Modest Proposal," a biting critique of British governance over Ireland, proposing a grotesquely literal solution to poverty. This tradition of satire harks back to the Latin satirist Juvenal, with Swift and West both weaving a tapestry of serious social commentary laced with a dark humor that challenges societal norms.
West's protagonist in "Miss Lonelyhearts" embodies the archetype of the holy fool, reminiscent of characters found in Dostoevsky's novels such as The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, as well as in Voltaire's Candide and Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Gimpel the Fool." These figures, often depicted in seemingly absurd or tragic situations, reveal deeper insights into the human condition.
West's narrative style is marked by an intense, often disordered and violent imagery akin to Franz Kafka's works. Kafka's ability to render the surreal convincingly parallels West's distortion of normalcy to provoke a visceral response from readers. Similarly, Dashiell Hammett’s harsh stylization, as seen in The Maltese Falcon, mirrors West’s approach, crafting a world that is simultaneously vivid yet surreal.
In the barren landscapes of West's novels, one can trace echoes of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. His use of imagistic language aligns with the Imagists like Eliot, Ezra Pound, and William Carlos Williams. Characters such as Homer in The Day of the Locust find their counterparts in Sherwood Anderson’s Wing Biddlebaum from "Hands" in Winesburg, Ohio, both portraying a stark yet poetic vision of alienation.
West's work, often described as a "moral satire" or a "moral detective story," disrupts conventional narrative techniques to forge a unique perspective. Through an effaced narrator, West...
(This entire section contains 453 words.)
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employs grotesque and surreal imagery to unsettle the reader’s assumptions, with violent imagery juxtaposed against ordinary events. This technique, as West noted, is intended to distort familiar expectations and inject a sense of paradox into the narrative, reflecting the protagonist Miss Lonelyhearts’ own existential confusion.
Psychological elements in West's narratives mimic myths rather than serve as straightforward explanations, stripping characters of clichéd layers and revealing profound insights. The humor and irony, particularly from the character Shrike, subvert rather than comfort, transforming traditional sanctuaries like churches into speakeasies and "comfort stations." Through religious imagery that is simultaneously sacred and profane—such as sacrificing a lamb or Shrike as the Grand Inquisitor—West crafts a narrative that eschews ordinary reference points for metaphorical depth.
West’s terse colloquial style enhances the novel’s ambiguity, forcing readers into a shared sense of desperate frustration. By manipulating these elements, West creates a "lyric novel," wherein every aspect contributes to a singular, pervasive mood, challenging readers to confront the discomfort and complexity of the human experience.
Setting
"Miss Lonelyhearts" by Nathanael West paints a vivid tapestry of urban despair and fragile redemption through its diverse settings. The protagonist, an advice columnist known only by the pseudonym "Miss Lonelyhearts," navigates a world that swings between hope and hopelessness, seeking solace and meaning in the places he inhabits. The settings are as much characters as the people themselves, offering not only a backdrop to the narrative but also insight into the emotional and psychological states of those who dwell within them.
Miss Lonelyhearts’ Home
At the heart of the narrative is Miss Lonelyhearts’ apartment, a sparse and unadorned space that mirrors the internal emptiness he feels. Its most striking feature is an ivory Christ figure, a calm yet haunting presence that symbolizes both burden and potential redemption. This figure looms large over Miss Lonelyhearts’ struggle to offer solace to his readers while grappling with his own disillusionment. The apartment becomes a stage for pivotal encounters, such as the unsettling proposal of seduction by Fay Doyle—a reader disillusioned in her marriage to Peter Doyle, a man marked by physical and emotional limitations. In contrast, Betty, Miss Lonelyhearts’ simple and loyal girlfriend, visits the apartment, representing a flicker of innocence and potential stability in his otherwise chaotic life.
The Park
Nearby, the park—a likely nook in Central Park hinted by a Mexican War obelisk—serves as both a sanctuary and a battlefield. Here, Miss Lonelyhearts converses with Ned Gates, a colleague, only to stumble upon a scene that epitomizes the metaphorical and literal detritus of urban life. A confrontation with an elderly man, seen as a representation of his desperate letter writers, leads to a moment of brutal violence, revealing Miss Lonelyhearts’ own inner turmoil and capacity for cruelty. This dual nature of the park reflects the tension between refuge and confrontation in the protagonist's quest for understanding.
The Post-Dispatch City Room
The city room of the Post-Dispatch is another pivotal setting, cluttered with the burdensome tales of human misery that flood Miss Lonelyhearts daily. Each letter is a cry for help that he is tasked to address, yet the environment is anything but supportive. Willie Shrike, his superior, adds to the oppressive atmosphere by orchestrating practical jokes that mock Miss Lonelyhearts' empathetic work, underscoring the cynicism that pervades this place of supposed public service. The city room is a microcosm of the harsh realities of Miss Lonelyhearts’ profession, where efforts to mend broken spirits are often undercut by ridicule and exploitation.
Delehanty’s Speakeasy
In contrast, Delehanty’s speakeasy offers a space of temporary escape from the city's harshness. Located in the cellar of a brownstone with an ominous armored door, it embodies the clandestine allure of Prohibition-era New York. Frequented by journalists and the lonely alike, the speakeasy becomes a theater for both camaraderie and confrontation. Willie Shrike, despite his mockery, acknowledges the power of Miss Lonelyhearts’ column to boost circulation, revealing the complex interplay between commercial interests and human compassion. The speakeasy is also where Miss Lonelyhearts encounters Peter Doyle, Fay’s husband, setting the stage for both men's fateful collapse. The climactic struggle on the steps of Miss Lonelyhearts’ apartment, ending in a tragic embrace, underscores the futility and unpredictability of their search for redemption.
Through these settings, "Miss Lonelyhearts" captures the stark disparities of urban life during the Roaring Twenties, a time when the American Dream was tantalizingly close yet heartbreakingly out of reach for many. The relentless hustle of New York City's streets and the intimate enclaves within it serve as a poignant backdrop to Miss Lonelyhearts’ journey, highlighting both the potential for renewal and the pervasive shadow of despair. Each location is a crucible of human emotion, shaping and reflecting the inner lives of those who seek solace in its confines.
Adaptations
While West may not have collaborated on its transformation in Hollywood, Miss Lonelyhearts eventually found its way to the silver screen as a B-grade film titled Advice to the Lovelorn (20th Century Pictures, 1933). The adaptation bore little semblance to its literary predecessor. Similarly, the 1937 film It Could Happen to You (Republic Productions) emerged as a loose B-movie adaptation, blending the narratives of A Cool Million with Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here.
In contrast, The Day of the Locust (Paramount, 1975) was a lavish production that garnered significant acclaim, securing several Oscar nominations and leaving a lasting impression in the world of cinema.
