After reading the first two chapters of On the Road, I am extremely content to have been assigned the novel. Throughout the reading, I felt captivated by the narrator’s thoughts and by his relationships with other characters such as Dean Moriarty and Carlo Marx. In my opinion, Dean’s character is an interesting one in that he is considered a crazy conman, yet he is admired by people around New York City. I found it compelling that the narrator, a writer, would be so interested in being Dean’s friend when Dean would just scramble big words together in a sentence to sound like an intellectual. On the other hand, Carlo Marx’s character is enthralling because he is eager to spend time with Dean Moriarty when, in reality, Carlo is much more educated. Moreover, I believe the reason for such an interest in Dean Moriarty by other characters is due to his vast travel experience along with his overall strange attitude that is difficult to ignore.
The second chapter begins with the narrator’s departure from New York as he heads west by ways of hitchhiking and only fifty dollars to spend. Additionally, after getting stuck in the rain and finding a ride to later take a bus back to New York, the narrator states that he does not care how much money he has to spend anymore, as long as he reaches Chicago the following day. I believe that the trip across the country will serve the narrator well not only in his writing, but also in relieving stress from his circumstances in New York. Overall, the first two chapters exceeded my expectations and I am excited for the next reading.
Pedro in his commentary on the characters and plots of the novel addresses and predicts many themes and motifs that I also found to be important in the first two chapters of On the Road and will continue to be important throughout the rest of the novel. I agree with Pedro’s portrayal of Dean as the “holy conman”. Although the phrase is an oxymoron, it accurately describes Sal’s opinion of Dean whom he holds in such high respect, ironically, because of his deceit. Pedro accurately describes the narrator’s opinion of Sal and his friends, who are often called “intellectuals”, always including the quotation marks alluding to the narrator’s sarcasm. I also found the character of Carl Marx to be interesting as well, and found it weird that Sal would become friends with people who clearly did not posses many of Sal’s characteristics. I also found that Sal’s interest in Dean Moriarty stemmed from the fact that he represented the ideal traveler, unlike Sal who has lived in the same place all his life. Even when we first met Dean he appears to be in the middle of his last adventure, in this case with the somewhat crazed Marylou. I agree that Sal’s departure from the northeast will serve him well and help with his writing, but I also believe that it will lead to problems in is life and raise questions that he in his young adulthood has never had to face before. After reading Pedro’s as well as everyone else’s commentaries I’m glad that we are all excited to continue reading further.
ReplyDelete~Gioia Kelleher