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On the Road
Author: Jack Kerouac Project By: Carly Weist
Summary On the Road by Jack Kerouac is about a former criminal, Dean Moriarty, who goes to New York City and becomes best friends with a writer, Sal Paradise. Together, the two men travel all across the United States. When the get to the west, Sal decides to stay in California because it is one of his dreams to live out west. The next year, the two go out again ending up in San Francisco after some crazy adventures in New Orleans. They start traveling again and Dean decides to settle in New York. That spring, they head back on the journey and go all the way to Mexico City. Over the course of all this traveling is going on, Dean has three wives and four kids. Sal changes from his usual depressed self and becomes more confident and joyous. He also finds love and the end of their journey,
Opinion./Review This novel was very different from anything I have ever read, besides our core novel The Motorcycle Diaries. I usually choose not to read travel documentary or journal like novels like this, so it was somewhat hard for me to understand the style of writing. This novel was very detailed with the actual trip that took place. The men went so many different places and there were many events that occurred, so this made it extremely difficult for me to follow the actual plot line. There were times when Dean and Sal, the two main characters split up so that made me feel like I now had two stories to follow. But then they would meet up again and it would then become one. I think that the novel did not need as many conflicts and stops on the trip to get the point across. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading travel themed novels, but for anyone else like me, I would not.
Connection On the Road directly connects to our core novel, The Motorcycle Diaries because they both deal with two close friends going on a meaningful journey together. In On the Road, Dean and Sal experienced a trip they will never forget. In The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto and Alberto experienced a trip that affected the rest of their lives. In both novels, the friendships grew because of the trip they took. Never once was there a dull moment, there was always something going on. In On the Road, the men stayed within the United States, but in The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto and Alberto focused on traveling all across Latin America. Even though their choices of destinations were different, the meaning and experienced they gained was very similar.
The setting of the novel was all across the U.S. It took place mostly in New York and San Francisco because that is where Dean and Sal felt most welcomed. The setting continuously changed, so their lives always remained inconsistent.
Plot- When Sal and Dean start their trip they only run into numerous complications- poverty, women, policemen, etc. The two spend the whole novel in search of "the end of the road", and they believe they will find it in Mexico. Sal gets a fever in Mexico, and his friendship with Dean is questioned. Dean leaves the very sick Sal in Mexico, and Sal doesn't know he can be forgiven. Sal gets better and meets Laura in New York, the women who has ended his search for love. The novel winds down when Dean comes all the way to NY to see Sal and realizes it was not worth it. But, Dean will remain in Sal's thoughts for a very long time.
Friendship- Through Sal and Dean's travels, they become almost brothers. When living alone in Denver, Sal quickly feels sad and not completely a part of life without his fellow Beat friends. Although, friendship can also be destructive seen towards the end of the novel. Sal realizes that a destructive friendship can have sever consequences for the people surrounding him and Dean.
The Beat Generation- http://www.bluesforpeace.com/beat.htm
Characters Sal Dean
Themes
Conflicts
Dean's Love Life- Dean first marries Marylou in San Francisco. He is a big fan of sleeping around and acting like he is not commited. Their marriage does not last long, and he soon marries Camille. In Denver, where they are settled, hi slust for young girls starts to get out of hand. Spending wild evenings at clubs, doing drugs and getting drunk, Camille kicks him out of her house. When they go to Mexico, Dean divorces Camille and marries Inez. But, he proves to actually care baout his family when he leaves Inez to return to Camille and his kids.
Sal's Perspective on Life- At the beginning of the journey, Sal is an unsuccessful, boring person who does not really know what to do with his life. When he gets to Denver, he realizes he needs to make a change. Dean's madness has forced him to create a care free lifestyle where he is more confident in himself. Dean inspired him to break out of his shell and live a more domestic life.
