After reading chapters three and four of the novel, I unintentionally found myself relating to the mundane, yet extraordinary experiences of a hitchhiker. I find it admirable how the narrator is able to connect us to a person whom normally we find ourselves trying to avoid; I know that when I see someone with their thumb up on the side of the road I automatically classify them as a sketchy abnormality who I could in no way relate to. Yet, the narrator's natural and humble approach in reflecting upon his experience blended with his unexpectedly insightful observations of the nation as a whole makes the reader relate to him. A particularly mundane comment is made when he describes the trends of music in America as he says, “I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard” (pg.11); this comment underscores the influence of contagious trends in America and how conformity unifies the vast nation. This idea is one that defines the country, even today, in that it describes a spreadable force that connects us to each other. I also found that the color gray (pg. 17,18) is continually used to describe the narrator’s surroundings; to me this dull color refers to the hazy future the narrator has ahead of him. Another comment the narrator makes in his depiction of his stop at the diner is that the restaurant was “run by a bunch of women” (pg.22); this was a slight comment made that had no direct intention in being the focus of the description, but suggests the subordinate roles women played in society at the time. I admire how the narrator was able to suggest the influence of gender on society in an understated manner. Lastly, I liked how the narrator describes the Minnesota truck drivers as the “captains” of their ship (pg.22); this made me think of the Hudson river reference made earlier in the novel and how he is like the rose on the river, unknowing of where he will end up. Furthermore, I feel like I am on this journey with the narrator as he flows next to the many roses beside him in his hitchhiker alliance that forms on the back of the Minnesota drivers’ truck; a big thumbs up for the novel so far.
As I read chapters three and four I also couldn't stop thinking about how the stigma around hitchhikers have changes so much since One the Road was written. Through the several illustrations and encounters with hitchhikers that Sal describes, it seems as if hitchhiking when the book was being written was a common mode of transportation. But nowadays where most states in the US have made hitchhiking illegal, it’s hard to image the world in which Sal is trying to hitchhike across America.
ReplyDeleteThe quote “I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard” left me awe-struck. The idea the United States being seen as our playground at our disposal, instead of a huge frightening mass of land and people, was inspiring. I also felt that one of Sal’s faults during the journey he describes during chapters three and four was his naivety. He too often exaggerates the towns and landscapes that he passes through and over looks how similar his new surroundings are to his old one. Even during 1922, the 1920’s being America’s first material driven craze, Sal is living in an age of globalization and special interaction where many once unique towns have been homogenized. Sal even encounters another travelers much like him, for example Eddie and all his other friends traveling west.
Since the appearance and departure of Marylou I have also been waiting for at least another supporting female character to show up in the novel, but women so far have been excluded from any important role, other then in roles emphasizing their sexuality.