Sick & Tired

       Now, after reading almost half on the novel, I am confident in saying that I am sick and tired of On the Road as a result of Sal’s inability to act or behave like one person. Normally, despite the many options that they are presented with, characters in all books fall into a pattern as they are human and therefore predictable. Throughout the novel I have said, over and over that Sal cannot love because he does not love himself because he does not know himself. In this connected chain, I have had sympathy for him, as it is hard in this world not to be effected by its mysterious and mystical offerings; however, I believe that Sal is the guy who takes out the gun, but will not pull the trigger. In other words, we wants to make the change, but will never have the guts or balls to do so.

       The reasoning behind by frustration results in the fact that I am now reading The Kite Runner. Amir, although not fully developed as he is still a young adult, provides emotional shocks with twists and turns. Through these shocks, however, Amir has proven to learn from them rather than fluctuate like a Bobo Doll which Sal does continuously. Despite his horrid experience in the ‘wild and exuberant’ west, Sal’s opinion fluctuates as he now, once again, deems the region to be the ‘cool’ destination. Sal is the cause for his own undoing as he does not learn from his experiences unlike most people in this world. Rather, he continues to go back to places and the people that screwed him over in the first place.

       In addition, Sal is having visions of a Shrouded Arabian Traveler chasing him across a desert that will catch him before he reaches heaven. Dean thinks, that is signifies Sal’s longing for death. I believe, however, that Sal is not living so death will bring no change in his worthless life. I hate that my writing in this blog comes with a negative connotation, but there is truly no meat or substance in Sal’s world. He is a hypocrite as he ‘desires’ to parallel the life that Dean has; yet, he drives he describes to the reader the slow and careful drive he takes as to not hurt himself.

       I feel as if there is no hope for this novel. Sal is unsure of himself and his self worth and therefore can switch personalities as easily as he does because he is so empty. How can the main character of the novel be so empty and provide a meaningful message? I hope Kerouac cleans up his act, because as of right now, I am most definitely NOT a fan of On the Road.