Part 3 Review

      Luckily, unlike my blogs about parts one and two of On The Road, my blog is part three is going to be a lot less negative. At first, when reading the first few chapters I was not surprised to find out that Kerouac was going to continue the same cycle that he did in the first two parts by treating each part as almost a new novel with a new rising and falling action; however, I am happy to say that he did change major details to make the novel bearable to read.

      I am pleasantly surprised to finally call Sal the narrator of the novel. Part three is the story of the transition that Sal made from a distant ghost to a character who made his mark. He is no longer in the background but is present in the moment. This occurred through the role reversal  between Dean and Sal. Now, I perceive Dean to be a weak and cowardly character. He is so frightened to death to settle down with Camille that he sabotages his relationship so he can get out of it. He would rather drive on an endless road than be with one person for the rest of his life. But the sad thing is, the road is his excuse to live in a fantasy world rather than in reality. No matter if he goes east to west or back form west to east, Sal and Dean always end up on the Pacific or Atlantic coasts and are forced to deal with their problems. The middle section of America grants them the temporary ability to distance themselves from real life and the burdens that come with it.

      Furthermore, in terms of the hostile relationship with Camille and Dean, woman thus far have been useful for only one thing: sex. They are weak minded and to me, especially now of days where it is very possible that in the next few years our president could be a female, it is pretty sickening. Camille and the others have to realize that ‘men’ like Dean can never change. They are grown men that were never raised right. So in a sense, no matter how badly I feel for her, it is Camille’s fault for marrying Dean. She should of realized that no one can raise a man because he is too far gone.

      I am hopeful that Sal will continue to become his own man in part four and hesitantly say that the novel is getting somewhat better.

Sal Paradise and Marylou Are Dead

      Alright so we're back on this book for the first time in a while and it is exactly as I remember it. In the last reading we see this extended period of time where Sal and Dean are together essentially alone because Marylou is less of a character than Sal is (the only reason we can even call Sal a character is because we're using his perspective) and you might hope to see a bit more depth int heir relationship- perhaps the depth that has been sort of implied or assumed but until now has not been brought up by the author. What we get is more of the idea that Dean is the charismatic wildcard who always gets his way, and everyone he knows basically just worships him. He asks Sal and Marylou to strip and they do. That's it.

      We get some further confirmation that Sal is a lonely dude, it's pretty clear that Dean is his only friend (not even Marylou likes him) and I'm pretty sure Dean only likes him because he is the most loyal of his disciples. We see another character who represents a subculture not yet represented in the book, so that was cool for the whole 10 seconds it was relevant, but unfortunately it all came back to the trio in the car.

      Now at one point we do see a little bit of characterization here, or what might look a little like it, when Dean starts telling stories. This might not seem like a big deal, but it's more than most characters have. Who the hell is Sal? Does he have memories that don't involve Dean? Was he a child at some point? Dean has stories, he has a past that he can reference and while it's not all that deep it's still a story. Sal has no story- Marylou has no story, but it seems like Kerouac has at least a little bit of interest in developing Dean.

      A while back I said I thought the book's purpose was to show us the developing cultures in America at this time, and I stand by that. I just wish we could get more of that as opposed to a long car ride and occasionally a character will pop in to remind us why we're here. I think I'm beginning to see why it's called On The Road, we seem to be on a path with a definite direction, but we're not fucking going anywhere.

On the Road to...

So once again nothing really happens. I can say at least I was surprised in their ability to make it all the way to the west cost on only twenty bucks, some faith in their mental capacity was restored, especially driving for thirty miles without any gas. Maybe all of their brain cells have not been drunk away. Dean who was once at least a little amusing has lost all of his purpose in the novel. He does absolutely nothing other than use up space and mess with people’s life, people like Mary Lou and Camille.  

So Camille welcomes Dean back inter her life. Why on earth would Camille take him back? What could possibly induce her? Was it the fact that when they first met he was practically sleeping with the two different people at the same time or was it the fact that he left her with their new born child? My guess is that it was his amazing personality and motivation for life. I think I’ll be writing my thesis on this.

So it’s not that Sal really ever had a plan for life, but he did have expectations. During his first journey everything amazed him, even things that should not be amazing him, did. But now the best word to describe him now would be melancholy. When he is walking through San Francisco he is down right depressed. Sal is only happy or at least appears to be happy when he is with Dean, which appears to be his only purpose.

  I am severely disappointed with On The Road.

The Lemon Squeezer

      Although still not fully invested in On The Road after nearly two hundred pages, the character relationships are in fact becoming more complex and interesting for me as a reader who looks for distinct characteristics to distinguish between characters. Before this week’s reading, I believed most of the characters to be mundane, boring, and lifeless creatures; however, now after reading this week, I am becoming more intrigued by the character relationships.

      My title for this week’s post, The Lemmon Squeezer, plays extreme significance in relation the characters of the novel. I developed this term myself to describe a person who metaphorically squeezes everything useful they can out of someone, and then dumps them in the trash. I believe this term perfectly describes the character of Dean. His ‘honorable’ quest has turned into one characterized by manipulation, desperation, and lust. He continues to leave Sal, his ‘best friend’, for weeks at a time for someone else, and then returns once he is contempt that he has finished his business. Furthermore, he manipulates Marylou through his profession of his love to her to continue to journey on with him, but in the meantime, truly could care less about any one them. He desires the company of Marylou and Sal, but once he has found something better, leaves them for good.

      To me, it is pathetic that Sal and Marylou would even bother to continue on their journeys with Dean. I understand that Sal admires Dean and his spirit, but Dean’s state of mind is infectious and constantly brings Sal down. Before, Sal dreamed of the Mississippi River and what it symbolized; however, now he can only describes its physical characterizes in a mundane tone. In other words, Sal’s view point has become more and more contemplative and depressed. Dean literally is sucking out all the life and dreams that Sal possesses. In reality, Sal could become a great narrator, but because of Dean, he continues to disappoint.

      I understand that Sal connects with Dean due to their shared status as ‘misfits’ (Sal because of his thoughts and Dean because of his actions), but he has to understand that if he does in fact continue on this road, it will lead to his inevitable lonely death. Sal’s perspective on life needs to continue to stay positive, or I worry that he will attempt to commit suicide, or even worse, become himself, another ‘Lemon Squeezer’.

A Commentary on Part 2

       After finishing Part 2 of the novel this weekend, I must say that the novel has gotten more interesting and more complex. It would be difficult to touch on everything that occurred in this week’s reading because of the introduction of so many new conflicts along with a few new characters and of course a great amount of time “on the road”. 

       Towards the middle of Part 2, there begins a whole new element of disorder in the novel. We move again for new adventures out west and Sal becomes a bit more like Dean in terms of his partying style and overall outlook (he obviously still is not as cool as Dean). Sal develops as a character which makes the novel more interesting than before because he is no longer the character that just sits there and admires the actions of others. In addition, I believe that the greater focus on characters such as Marylou allows for the better understanding of some of the smaller, external conflicts in the novel. The dramatic change in both tempo and complexity after Part 1 of the novel has made the work somewhat more interesting and it truly leaves the audience wondering what is to come.

       I would like to make the major focus of my post on the time spent in New Orleans in the novel. When considering the fact that Kerouac wrote the novel during the 40’s and 50’s, it is remarkable to see the attitude that he exhibits in the novel towards the African-American culture. The audience can see a clear representation of the author’s perspective through the character’s comments on the jazz, bars, and other spectacles in New Orleans. Every character marvels at the African-American community’s excess of talent and I believe that it is incredible to see this in a novel that was written in times where segregation was still present. Jack Kerouac wrote the novel knowing that it would be subject to controversy if he idolized the African-American musicians (specifically in New Orleans), but clearly he did not care. I believe that these scenes in New Orleans are indicative of the overall purpose of the novel. In my opinion, the novel is a tool for the author to illustrate the cultural diversity across America that can be seen when “on the road”. 

“We wandered around, carrying our bundles of rags in the narrow romantic streets. Everybody looked like a broken-down movie extra…a lemon lot, and how’s a man going to make a living with a gang like that?” (Meagan Adler)

      As we continue to aimlessly wander with the “foolish gang” (pg.155) as they again head back west on their cyclical and seemingly never ending journey, we continue to see them attempting to escape the inescapable societal institutions.  We see these societal interferences when the cop “whipped out his gun” (pg.154) and demanded them to keep their hands up; here, we see that the institution of state acts as an inescapable authoritative force that will continue to follow Dean and his clan throughout the country.  Society acts as a restrictive roof, as Sal says, “it’s the too-huge world vaulting us” (pg.146) in which he tries to say the impossible “good-by” (pg.146).  We also see the societal institution of family haunting Sal as he imaginatively sees and hears his 1750 “strange Dickensian mother” (pg.161) saying “‘don’t come back and plague your honest, hard-working mother.  You are no longer like a son to me’” (pg.161); we again see society pulling Sal back to it’s socially acceptable ways.  In this week’s reading, we also see emotionally conflicted feelings from Sal towards Dean in which at one moment he admirably expresses “Dean took the wheel and carried us clear to the top of the world” (pg.157) and the next moment he begrudgingly says, “Where is Dean and why isn’t he concerned about our welfare? I lost faith in him that year” (pg.161); this shows us that Sal so desperately wants to be Dean, for he feels a sense of invincibility and individuality when he is with him, but also sees that he is a societal low-life who will forever aimlessly wander in a purposeless pursuit of freedom.  Furthermore, I think Sal is mentally conflicted with the idea of whether he wants to be the socially accepted conformist or the rebelliously disobedient individual.  A particularly powerful part of this week’s reading was when Sal decides, because “Dean didn’t care one way of the other” (pg.167) that “It was the end” (pg.167) and that he wanted to get out.  Sal expresses, “We wandered around, carrying our bundles of rags in the narrow romantic streets.  Everybody looked like a broken-down movie extra, a withered starlet; disenchanted stunt-men, midget auto-racers, poignant California characters with their end-of-the-continent sadness, handsome, decadent, Casanova-ish men, puffy-eyed motel blondes, hustlers, pimps, whores, masseurs, bellhops- a lemon lot, and how’s a man going to make a living with a gang like that?” (pg.159).  I feel like Sal, once again, sees the hopeless fringes of society and retreats back to live under his societal roof where he will be the socially accepted New York conformist as he apathetically expresses, “We were all thinking we’d never see one another again and we didn’t care” (pg.167).  

I Still Have Hope

       This week’s reading of On the Road was pretty much as awful as the rest in relation to boredom and I have nearly given up on the novel completely. As a few of my peers have pointed out, the novel really sticks out as dull and monotonous because we automatically compare it to the other works that we have read which are (in my opinion) some of the best of the best. The major issue that I have with this novel is that every time I open it to read it, I can almost expect what is going to happen. This week in particular was a disappointment because I felt that the plot would develop a bit more since the reading was a little lengthier (which of course I was wrong about). 

       In terms of the details from this week’s reading, there is really not much to say or point out other than the fact that Dean and Sal continue to party hard and Sal is still a loner and a failure while Dean is a straight-up “boss” for lack of a better word. The one part of the reading that I did find pretty interesting was reading about Sal and Dean’s experiences with weed. I figured that somewhere along the novel we would see this happen just because of the time period and the type of person that Dean was in addition to the fact that Sal would do anything to be like him. I must say that I did find it quite entertaining reading about Sal’s thoughts as he was in this other state of mind. However, I feel as if Kerouac misses a great opportunity to “spice” the novel up a little when they are smoking. Instead, the novel drags along a little more and it seems as if the author is just trying to get through a period of Sal’s life as fast as possible.
       Overall, the reading this week was a major disappointment but I still find myself somehow still excited to read more. I know for a fact (at least I hope) that this novel cannot continue like this forever and there will eventually be some development. Maybe Sal will find himself a companion and begin to drift away from Dean or maybe Sal and Dean can get in some huge fist fight over a girl…I do not know exactly…but just anything and I mean ANYTHING to make the novel a little more interesting. 

Sal

      I have given up on On The Road, and more so than before. Good ol’Sal and Dean are as awful as they before, and honestly the whole group acts as stupidly as the last time they drove cross country. No one has learned from anything, and even during the few times that Kerouac shows the reader any development in his characters it just leads to more disappointment in their actions. Though I feel that we got to understand Mary Lou and actually see her character develop it did not make me like her any more than I previously did. Kerouac still represents women as inferior and disposable characters, not to mention the fact that Dean had tried to get Sal to have sex with Mary Lou while he watched. So far the strongest female character we have met in the book as been Bull’s daughter who claims, "look at the silly men!" when watching the boys play in their back yard.  
      Carlo seems to have moved on from the group and is no longer interested in their life style. He is much more mature from when we last saw him. He is now living in his own apartment and eventually kicks the group out once he becomes annoyed and bothered by their messiness and fighting.

      What I found incredibly amazing and laughable was the fact the Bull Lee, a man whose life purpose is to experiment and test out different types of narcotics, finds Dean crazy. There’s as saying that “someone will always be better than you are” but I think Dean is the most insane person in existence and considering his history I can’t really blame him.

      Though Sal annoys me constantly and I find almost all of actions prime examples of stupidity, I also feel bad for him. He seems very lost and disenchanted from the world he lives in, and I think this is something that everyone can connect with. It makes sense for Sal and Dean to constantly be on the road, where you don’t have to look back or deal with consequences. Dean obviously wasn’t ready to be a father so he left Camille and traveled cross country to avoid the responsibility. Sal has been disappointed a lot, we all saw his optimism when he first decided to travel cross country in the beginning of the novel.

“The balloon won’t sustain you much longer. And not only that, but it’s an abstract balloon. You’ll all go flying to the West Coast and come staggering back in search of your stone’” (Meagan Adler)

      As we continue on this seemingly insignificant cyclical journey with Sal, we become frustratingly bored by his “I didn’t want to interfere, I just wanted to follow” (pg.123) complacently dull attitude.  Sal is never going to be an individual, but will rather always be a follower, trying to identify who he is in his attempt at escaping the inescapable societal institutions with Dean.  He is simply a haggard sheep who has no influence over himself and therefore can never be the individual he strives to be.  As the cop takes after them “with his siren whining” (pg.127), we are constantly reminded that the individual is destined to fail and that Sal is trying to beat a structural societal system that is inevitably going to defeat him.  I feel like these moments augment our irritation with Sal, as he is aimlessly wandering through the United States in search of a nonexistent identity.  I also become annoyed with Sal when he expresses his excessive admiration for Dean, almost as if he is like a God.  Dean is a leader figure, trying to lead the Beat Generation out of society, where multiplying restrictions inhibit the freedom of the individual; however, has Dean really succeeded in doing so?  It seems as though he too is purposely wandering through the nation trying to defeat the undefeatable societal institutions.  As a member of the youthful Beat Generation, Sal sees the country as “wild and brawling and free” (pg.135); he feels as if he has the power to truly become an individual, yet we, as a reader realize that he is a mundanely dull nobody.  A particularly powerful part of chapter 6 is when Old Bull says, as he sits with Kafka on his lap, “’Tain’t nothing but bureaucracy.  And unions!’”;  I was intrigued by the Kafkaesque idea of the failure of the individual that supports how we feel as we journey with Sal.  Carlo acknowledges the failure of Sal and Dean as he expresses, “The balloon won’t sustain you much longer.  And not only that, but it’s an abstract balloon.  You’ll all go flying to the West Coast and come staggering back in search of your stone’” (pg.121).  I feel as if we can relate to Carlo, as he mentally matures, and realizes that Sal’s journey has no purpose and will not succeed, for once he again sees the fringes of society, he will come back under the roof of society, for it is an inescapable and undefeatable force.  

Sick and Tired

      Surprise! Another week and yet the same plot story has occurred once in the again in the predictable On The Road. At this point, like my other partners in the blog, I am sick and tired of reading a book which has no substantial ‘meat’ to it. Even in this week’s reading, Sal himself discusses where the road is tacking him.

      After reading this chapter while at the same time reading Notes from the Underground, I would like to point out that the narrator in Notes from the Underground make an excellent observation about mankind. In this story, the narrator discusses how human beings are so afraid of being bored that they will build roads and streets just for the sake of it. In terms of On The Road, Sal and Dean go on these road trips as they have nothing better to do with their lives. They are afraid at facing the reality that their lives have no substance that they would rather waste their time abusing drugs and having sex than facing the harsh truth that I am discussing right now. They are on the road for the sake of with without an purpose or meaning, just like the entire novel. I have yet to figure out what the point of central theme of the novel is besides a sense of hopelessness.

      Furthermore, it seems that the plot stories between part 1 and part 2 parallel each other despite slight variations. Once again, Sal is warned multiple times not to spend too much time with Dean; however, he heads everyone's warning, ignoring his own mental and physical health, and is once again going to undergo a mental breakdown. At this point, I do not in the least bit care that Sal is miserable because he keeps turning back to the person who makes him the most depressed.

      Also, even though I at first I liked Dean, I think at this point he too is as pathetic as Sal. Dean blames everyone but himself as proven by when he once again gets arrested for speeding. If he in the first place did not speed, he would have no one to blame. Rather, Dean is constantly complaining and treats woman as his accessories. It is sickening to say that Kerouac suggests that the only thing women are good for is for nurturing and or providing sex.
      I do not know if I could have made this any clearer, but at this point in time is a dread to read On The Road. I would rather reader Notes from the Underground, although dense, because at least it has some logic and meaning behind the context of its text.