Totally forgot to post this here

Felipe Rego

Mr. Shapiro

May 5, 2014

Period 2

"On the Road" In Context: The Beat Generation and Its Significance

     The idea of the “American Dream” is as flexible as it is abstract and broad, it then follows that this concept has changed over time. Today perhaps some might say the American Dream is coming into this country with nothing and following your dreams to success, but it has not always been so individualistic. At one time, shortly after WWII, the American Dream was the nuclear family- Mom, Pop, Timmy, Sally, their dog Sparky and their white picket fence. This was the image that everyone was expected to aspire to. Unfortunately, this is the 1950’s, so this image was not exactly all-inclusive; portrayals of this American Dream were all quite similar to things like “Leave It to Beaver” in that it only included what was considered the majority at the time, which was, in short, white Americans. Therefore it obviously did not include minorities of any kind, non-heterosexuals, the poor, or generally anyone who did not conform to that particular image. This American Dream was great for that “majority” but obviously it did not work out for that leftover “minority”, or for anyone who dared to question the moral majority. So, of course, a counter-culture emerged; not necessarily made up of minorities, in fact the most famous members of this counter-culture were a group of white males who simply did not want to settle for the Levittown house and the morality they have been told to accept. This group of white males eventually named their counter-culture the “Beat Generation”- a title with a bit of a contested origin. To this day there are those who claim that famous writer Jack Kerouac thought of the name but he himself passes credit to writer Herbert Huncke, claiming that “Beat” came from the idea of being “tired” or “beaten down” as that is how they perceived themselves. Despite this, Allan Ginsberg, another Beat writer, has written that Kerouac called it “a beat generation” first- “not meaning to name the generation, but to unname it”.        

The whole point of this movement was not just to explore what had been demonized by society, but it was more about exactly what the name implied; the Beats were all about representing the ideas that had been beaten down. This was a time where a man having his hair too long or acting in such a way that middle-aged white Christian men would not typically approve of was not just strange but quite dangerous. The Beats were the people before the hippies, they were anti-conformists bent on exploring what they have been told should not be explored. They experimented sexually when society told them they could only be heterosexual, they smoked marijuana when society said drugs are evil, and they kept moving even though society said they should just settle down. That is exactly what Jack Kerouac tried to capture in his book “On the Road”, which is essentially his written recollection of a journey with other Beats. It can be argued that nothing happens in the whole book- they are all just constantly moving towards a perceived destination but it never seems too important, they are just on the road. That was the whole point- that is what the Beats were all about- they were kind of just on the move, enjoying their lives, whatever that meant to them, with no particular goals in mind. While perhaps today we can assign these kinds of people other titles and say they are not so unusual, at the time this was some mind-blowing behavior, and the fact the “On the Road” captures this unusual, nearly aimless behavior so well is what makes it such an important book.

As previously stated, “On the Road” is essentially Jack Kerouac’s account of a journey that actually took place. This also means that every character in the book is meant to represent a person who really existed. The main character and narrator is Sal Paradise, an aspiring writer and intellectual with a tendency to be a bit quiet and awkward- he represents Jack kerouac. The reader is quickly introduced to Dean Moriarty, Sal’s best friend and hero- he represents Neal Cassady. Most of the Beats are in the book; Carlo Marx is Allen Ginsberg, Old Bull Lee represents William S. Burroughs, Elmer Hassel is Herbert Huncke and so on and so forth. With that in mind, the book serves as a look at Beat generation, how they behaved, and how they interacted. For example, by looking at behavior between Sal and Dean, it can be inferred that Kerouac saw Neal Cassady as this charismatic extrovert brimming with confidence, and it seems as though he idolized him. While this sounds interesting, Kerouac does not focus very much on the people themselves, the only sort of relationship the reader actually gets insight on is the one between Sal and Dean, which is largely because Sal is basically obsessed with Dean. This book is not really about the people who made up “the Beat Generation”, but rather it is about the Beat movement itself, and the concepts behind it. The moments that are most significant do not aim to highlight relationships but rather behavior and attitudes. For example, at the beginning of the book Sal basically just decides he desperately wants to go see the west, and he just does, becoming a fieldworker in California for a bit. While to contemporary readers this may seem like some guy moving, but at the time that this was written that sort of activity was mind-blowing. You were expected to get a job, settle down, and start a family- this sort of unplanned behavior was insane at the time, particularly for a white male. Yet that what the whole story is- not much happens, Sal just moves around trying to have a good time, which is the whole point. Just like in the book, when these events were actually taking place there was not really a structured plan in place, they were just moving. There lies the purpose of the book- it illustrates the movement so perfectly because it’s just describing the journey of those in the movement; if this book were fiction then the author would have to try to instill that metaphorical parallel. The book isn’t famous because it is remarkably good, it is famous because of what it represents and what it depicts. This book tells the story of a counter-culture that changed American popular culture in a major way. It led to more questioning of authority and social norms, a change in the way people used the word “patriotic” and perhaps most importantly, the hippies.

People generally attribute the hippies with the questioning of authority, the questioning of social norms, experimentation with drugs and sex, and just generally questioning the ideas that came immediately before them. This, of course, sounds a lot like the Beats, except they were questioning the ideas of their own generation. Between the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War, the stage was set for the 60’s youth to become a counter-culture bent on questioning the authority that had failed them. At this time, the Beats had already produced a good enough amount of literature and art to be of great influence to this new youth looking for things they could actually relate to. In essence, the Beats shaped the new, inevitably rebellious youth into what is commonly known as the hippie movement- the hippies were a result of the Beats. The Beat movement was created by white males already in their adulthood, so the children who inherited it developed it, and because of things like the Civil Rights movement this new movement was adopted by an entire generation. With that in mind, it would prove very difficult to say that the hippies has little effect on modern American culture- it is a fact that the hippie movement caused a great leftward shift. However, given that the hippie movement was basically an amplified version of the Beats, it stands to reason that the Beats can be credited with having influence on modern culture. In fact, much of the hippie movement is considered to be somewhat extreme today, and those parts of the movement cannot really be seen in contemporary culture, while the Beats have a more solid parallel. Basically, not only did the Beats create the hippies which in turn led to modern culture, but the Beats themselves have a quite direct hand in influencing modern culture.

First off, Beat literature is widely read and Beat philosophy is widely discussed, the same cannot be said for the hippies. Most people think of the hippies as a historical event/movement and not so much as a culture. This means that aside from the influences that exist primarily because events affect the events that follow, the Beats influence modern culture and thinking with the art that they produce which is still studied to this day. While the hippies definitely caused a massive leftward shift, people do not tend to look back at the hippies for philosophical support while writing for a social justice blog- the Beats are currently the go-to quotation bank for most counter-cultures in America. The only thing that has really transfered over from the hippies is the concept that the youth can have their voices heard if they are loud enough. Thanks to the internet (and the size of the country, of course), American society is rife with all sorts of “counter-cultures” from the militant atheists, to the separatists, and even to the tumblr feminists. The name that these groups tend to get tacked with terms like “keyboard activists”, except maybe the separatists since their vocal members do not tend to be internet active. What “keyboard activist” means is exactly what it sounds like: It is a person who has strong opinions about something, but tends to only express this from behind a computer screen. These kinds of people have gotten a lot of criticism for demanding change but never doing anything about it, but the Millennials have proven to be almost as apathetic as they were expected to be, showing drive and strong conviction but largely unable to mobilize. The majority of American internet users show a tendency to question authority, social norms, and age old traditions, but on the websites and message boards where these ideas are expressed it is quite rare to see anyone talking about action; for the most part all these people are just talking about their ideas. This is more in line with what the Beats were all about; the Beats were all about talking and learning and expressing, and that sort of thinking has definitely made a home on the internet. While it has definitely become a place for polarization and hostile stubbornness, this is simply a negative externality of being a place where people freely discuss ideas. Some of the more widely discussed ideas on the internet can almost be attributed to the Beats given how popular the group tends to be; one such idea would be a distancing from society- many of these groups online consider themselves to be outside of society’s box and criticizing what is inside. This is probably most true of what are modernly called the “Hipsters” which actually used to be another name for the Beats, which should say a lot. The hipsters are basically the modern-day Beats, or at least they try to be, in fact the two groups dress fairly similarly. They behave in constant skepticism of pop culture and authority, more so than any other co-culture. Perhaps the most significant connection is that modern hipsters tend to be actively anti-conformist, not just questioning authority and social norms but trying to behave outside of what is usual. The hipster “movement” tends to be associated with anti-branding and general anti-corporatism, and towards one extreme there seems to be certain anti-society or anti-authority ideas being expressed. Of course, Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac are two commonly known writers among hipsters, meaning that the Beats have had direct influence on the hipsters.

While cultural influences are obviously significant, the Beats can be credited with much of the changes in the political mindset of the average American, besides the aforementioned leftward shift. The Beats questioned government at a time where it was considered anti-American to do so, in doing so they got the ball rolling for the hippies, particularly the change in the concept of patriotism. It used to be thought of as patriotic to pay your taxes, but since the Beats the general consensus on this is that taxes are the government taking your money and is oppressive of the average American. This change follows behind the questioning of authority- people no longer simply assume the government is doing what they promise, nor do they believe it has their best interests in mind. They also first brought forth the idea that an American is an individual first and does not necessarily owe anything to their country. These ideas are obviously part of the hippie movement but it is important to recognize that these ideas did not come from the hippies, they were handed down by the Beats.

It is undeniable that the Beats have had an impact on modern culture, it was a very influential group. That is exactly why “On the Road” in significant, it is insight on a movement that often goes without notice. It is a representation of something more important than most people know- a counter-culture that changed America.

Works Cited

Kerouac, Jack. On the road. New York: Viking, 1997. Print.

"William Burroughs Beat Page." William Burroughs Beat Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. <http://lucaspickford.net/burrbeats.htm>.

On the Road: The Quest for Happiness (Gioia Kelleher)

Gioia Kelleher

Mr. Judd Shapiro

AP English Literature Period 2

5 May 2014

On the Road: The Quest for Happiness

On the Road takes place after the Great Depression and World War Two, but before the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. The Beat Generation, the movement for which Jack Kerouac represented, are stuck in a grey zone in American history. Allen Ginsberg, a voice among the Jack Kerouac, in a dark and somber poem “Howl”(1995) decries “Robot apartments! Invincible suburbs! Skeletal treasuries! blind capitals! demonic industries!”(On the Road). Here Ginsberg describes many of the harsh critiques that the youth shared during the 1950’s, a common feeling of restlessness and alienation. They felt estranged from their middle-class centered lives they had seen their parents lead. They had been told that if they were to follow their parent’s path they were to expect a life of fulfillment and wealth, but in adulthood they were met with neither. Strangely enough, their resentment stems from the prosperity felt by many Americans during the era surrounding the Beat Generation. They were promised by their parents ant their teachers that they would be happy if the followed the steps already created for them by previous generation, but the history they have witnesses would tell them other wise, so instead the tried to find their own path. The Beats represented the counterpart to the rise of the ordinary middle-class behavior, and though their quest for a new way of living life was honorable it in the end, as Kerouac describes in On the Road, did not lead to what they had expected.

It is widely considered that On the Road is partially autobiographical, though this seems inconsequential considering that every piece of art has to be at least somewhat autobiographical of the artist the created it, it is important when analyzing On the Road to understand the life of Jack Kerouac more so than would be required for other novels. In 1947, after the end of World War Two, Kerouac began his cross-country journeys, which would later inspire the novel On the Road. It was during these journeys that he met Neal Cassidy who Kerouac would base the character Dean Moriarty of off, the second protagonist in the novel. John Clellon Holmes, who is best known for his novel “Go”, considered the first Beat author and a friend of Jack Kerouac, is quoted for saying "Everywhere the Beat Generation seems occupied with the feverish production of answers—some of them frightening, some of them foolish—to a single question: how are we to live?".(On the Road) Jack Kerouac first labeled the Beat generation in an interview with Holmes and later quoted him an article in The New York Times Magazine "You know, this is really a beat generation." Though The Beats were unique to their era, the represent a communal conflict that every new generation must deal with. The restlessness of having to balance what previous generation tells you what is right and what you believe is right.

Sal leaves the simple and normal life of living in suburban New Jersey to explore the wild and unruly west. Sal does so because he wants his life to be extraordinary, which is why he is drawn to people like Dean and disconnected from his brother and his family, which is shown in Sal’s declaration that “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars”(5-6). His expectations for what lies ahead of him in Colorado and beyond are huge, which is seen as he departs on his first trip to travel across the United States. As Sal heads west for the first time he describes he describes his reaction as, “here for the first time in my life I saw my beloved Mississippi River, dry in the summer haze, low water, with its big rank smell that smells like the raw body of America itself because it washes it up. Rock Island - railroad tracks, shacks, small downtown section; and over the bridge to Davenport, same kind of town, all smelling of sawdust in the warm Midwest sun” (13). When Sal writes “Now I could see Denver looming ahead of me like the Promised Land, way out there beneath the stars, across the prairie of Iowa and the plains of Nebraska, and I could see the greater vision of San Francisco beyond, like jewels in the night” (14) his belief that the expansiveness of the United States as a source of hope in finding the hidden key to living happily is most clearly shown, specifically in his comparison to each city as a gem. Dean like Sal is searching for a greater meaning to life. The reader learns more of Dean’s past then they do for Sal, and this is done for a specific reason. Dean’s childhood and early adulthood consisted of two polar themes: instability and confinement. He traveled by freight car with his homeless father, only to end up incarcerated as young adult. Dean goes from complete freedom to being caged, which is why, once he is released, that Dean goes mad. As they are traveling, Dean tells Sal “Prison is where you promise yourself the right to live.” (132). Like Sal, his affinity for the freedom, represented by the immense size of the United States, stems from optimism in that they can find happiness if they just look hard enough. This ideal is also the base for their counter-culturalism. Both Sal and Dean reject what was the popular idea of happiness during the 1940’s, the era in which “On the Road” was based. They embodied the discontent felt by the youths. Sal expresses his demanding need rebel from his family and tradition when he writes “Although my aunt warned me that he would get me in trouble, I could hear a new call and see a new horizon, and believe it at my young age”(8). The youths of Beat Generation, like many other generations, drank alcohol, took drugs, had sex before marriage, and traveled through life aimlessly without any goals because they had been told not to. They abandon the lives they had been told was “right” and set off on grand journeys to find out for themselves how to live. Their expectations were so high; they went mad trying to fulfill them.

Both Sal and Dean set off on the epic journeys searching for the same thing, the true meaning of happiness, but unfortunately with every step Sal and Dean take they are met with disappointment. When Sal finally makes it to Colorado and the group has already begun to fall apart and his idol, Dean Moriarty, rarely notices or speaks to Sal. As Sal is leaving Colorado, on his way to San Francisco, he remarks that “In a last minute phone call Dean said he and Carlo might join me on the cost; I pondered this, and realized I hadn’t talked to Dean for more than five minutes on the whole time” (59).

Sal’s expectations are, quickly and in an anticlimactic fizzle, not met, which eventually takes a severe toll on Sal’s initial optimism and excitement. As Sal reaches the end of his first journey across the continental U.S. he realizes “How disastrous all this was compared to what I’d written him from Paterson, planning my red line Route 6 across America. Here I was at the end of America - no more land - and now there was nowhere to go but back. I determined at least to make my trip a circular one: I decided then and there to go to Hollywood and back through Texas to see my bayou gang; then the rest be damned.” (77-78). Sal is disappointed by the fact that he has reached the end, with no more land to head west on, and has not found what he is looking for. But, as with Dean, Sal believes that as long as they are on the road there is a chance of them finding what they are looking for.

Through the deration of the entire novel there is always something frustratingly missing from Sal’s descriptions of the people around him and of his life in general, as if he cannot get an accurate understanding it. He travels through all of the United States hoping to find someone who can help him understand it, which is another reason why Sal is drawn to Dean. After coming back from the West Coast for the first time Sal is stranded in New York City is left with no other option than walking through the Lincoln Tunnel to get back to New Jersey. During his journey Sal remarks, “Can you picture me walking those last miles through the Lincoln Tunnel or over the Washington Bridge and into New Jersey? It was dusk. Where was Hassel? I dug the square for Hassel; he wasn’t there, he was in Riker’s Island, behind bars. Where Dean? Where everybody? Where life? I had my home to go to, my place to lay my head down and figure the losses and figure the gain that I knew was in there somewhere too” (107).

Sal starts to realize how everyone around him feels as he does, that his perspective is not as unique as he had believe. During his journey back to New York he claims, “The bus roared on. I was going home in October. Everybody goes home in October.” (103).

Even though On the Road is criticized for being a sexist and inaccurate portrayal of women, it does so to express their suffering during the in which Kerouac wrote the novel. Most of the discord stems from many of the main character’s treatment of woman. Characters such as Dean Moriarty at one point in the novel is going back and forth between two hotel rooms in order to sleep with two different women, Marylou and Camille. Though the portrayal of women in On the Road is rough, it is not necessarily incorrect. Kerouac spends a majority of the novel commenting on the journeys and conflicts associated only with Sal, Dean, and their male friends, but female characters do play an important role in the novel. Sal when observing Marylou and Dean’s relationship comments that, “Marylou was watching Dean as she has watched him clear across the country and back, out of the corner of her eye- with a sullen, sad, air…”. (163). The supporting female characters, such as Marylou, Camille, and Terry, are all looking for the same think that the men are, but from the perspective of Sal their intentions and hopes are skewed, purposefully, to look as if they were acting whorish. In the end they are as lost as any of the other male characters.

The subtle change that occurs in the all the characters in On the Road is representative of their slow realization that what they are looking for might not exist. Sal is continuously changing throughout the novel, starting with his first journey across the country during which he was full of exuberance and ending with his surrender to all of the societal ideals he was trying to avoid in the first place. Over time Sal perception of the world changes and his hope in the future is lessened. The same occurs to Sal’s companions such as Dean Moriarty, Carlo Marx, and Marylou. They lose their excitement and passion, and become disillusioned. I believe that Kerouac’s message behind On the Road stems from his characters loss of hope. Kerouac did not write On the Road to tell a story of freedom and the finding of true happiness, but to tell a story about hope that is never fulfilled. Sal on his way through Mexico comments that all of the natives, “had their hands outstretched. They had come down from the back mountains and higher places to hold forth their hands for something they thought civilization could offer, and they never dreamed the sadness and the poor broken delusion of it. They didn’t know that a bomb had come that could crack all our bridges and roads and reduce them to jumbles, and we would be as poor as they someday, and stretching out our hands in the same, same way”(298). On the Road is a tragedy akin to the likes of Oedipus and Hamlet, just not as dramatic and grand. The most tragic element of the novel is that if anyone could have ended up happy it would have been Sal or Dean. No one else lusted after freedom as much as Sal and Dean did. They went on this epic journey across the United States and beyond, and still they were not able to find happiness. If they couldn’t do it, then who can?

Citation Page

"On the Road." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Apr. 2014. Web. 04 May 2014.

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Viking, 1997. Print.

Finally

Pedro Diaz

Mr. Shapiro

May 5, 2014

Period 2

Throughout literature, authors are generally inclined to write about events and situations that they have experienced themselves. For instance, Jack Kerouac, born in 1922, lived to see the intense racial discrimination of the early 20th century that preceded the hippie movement in the 60’s and 70’s. Moreover, in works such as On the Road, Kerouac’s experiences act as a clear motive with the inclusion of topics such as the “Beat Generation” and the all new “western” mindset. As a result, after being published in 1957, the novel drew a great amount of attention for  its praise of the “beatniks” and its support of racial equality and liberalism. Jack Kerouac’s novel goes beyond describing a journey; instead, through the manipulation of characters and their actions, the author is ultimately able to portray one of the most complex time periods in American history. 

One of the major reasons for the novel’s controversial release was the author’s revolutionary portrayal of a variety of different cultures. Sal and Dean, the novel’s two main protagonists, spend a seemingly endless journey across the nation where they meet people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. Possibly the most intriguing scene in the novel occurs when the two characters are in Louisiana and they recognize the African American musicians for their great talents. Prior to the “Beat Generation”, the concept of allowing black musicians to perform publicly would be considered disgraceful. However, the “beatniks” accepted the fact that the African Americans were different in skin color in exchange for their expertise in jazz music. Not only did African Americans begin performing at local venues, but they also became popular enough to define the new identity of places such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The influence of jazz in the novel is both clear and significant in that it reveals the characters’ perspectives on racial injustice. Rather than ignoring the obvious talent, nearly every character in the novel embraces the black men for their abilities. Sal and Dean become so engaged with jazz to the extent that they attend many performances including those of Slim Gaillard, one of the most recognized jazz musicians in history. Even when spending time in other cities outside of Louisiana, the characters’ affection for jazz still plays a role as they drink at bars in New York and Virginia that feature local African American performers. As the novel progresses, the characters regularly meet at nightclubs and bars where the sound of jazz music acts as an indicator of the iconic time period. The growing recognition of black musicians provided the support for a generation that would become more respectful and willing to take part in activities with people of other cultures. Jack Kerouac’s heavy focus on jazz music in On the Road presents the idea that Americans would no longer shun raw talent because of race.

In addition to a great emphasis on African American culture in Jack Kerouac’s novel, the whole concept of “western” is one that is truly defined in the work. It seems as if the characters are in a constant effort to get out west if they are not already there. Since the beginning of the novel, Sal’s major commitment is to get to California. At first, the audience may question the great desire to go out west. What does it have to offer? What makes it different from the rest of the country? The answer to these questions lies in the liberal nature of the west that was even more prominent during the novel’s setting. In comparison to the conservative east, the west was accepting of different cultures and races in addition to a more “care-free” lifestyle which became an attractive option to many young people, later known as the “Beat Generation”. Sal was a part of this movement and he became intrigued at the possibility of moving from the east and having a similar life to Dean Moriarty. In the first few chapters of the novel, the audience is exposed to a transition from east to west as Sal journeys cross-country. It seems as if with every day that passes, the setting becomes less and less stringent. By the time Sal reaches Denver, he begins to attend parties that would be considered low-class or “trashy” in the east. Moreover, as soon as Sal settles in California, the difference in culture becomes evident. Everything from smoking marijuana to sleeping with ten women in one night was considered acceptable during Sal’s stay, any idea that would be considered insane anywhere in the east. For this exact reason, Sal remains motivated to remain in the west and leave his old life in the past. The reader sees a clear shift from the boring and uneventful first half of the novel to the more climactic second half as Sal has become shaped by the “Beat Generation”.

One of the major characteristics of the mid 1900’s was clearly defined gender roles. While men were seen as the hard workers that brought money and capital to the country, women were seen as the possessions of men and were evaluated primarily for their looks and sexual abilities. When analyzing On the Road, nearly every women in the novel is unemployed or has a profession that fits the stereotype of the time. For instance, many of the women that Sal and Dean run into work as waitresses at bars or restaurants rather than other careers that offer higher salaries and more power. An element that is imminent in exposing the attitude towards women at the time is the way that the characters speak about other women and the interactions between male and female characters. Sal describes a “Mexican and beautiful” waitress (29), a “beautiful Colorado gal” (32), and a “beautiful blonde called Babe” (37); every single one of these remarks made by the male characters in the novel establishes the idea that women were nothing but sources of sexual pleasure for men. Nearly every time a male character in the novel sees a woman, they either think or comment on her looks and what they would do with her in bed. There is not one relationship in the novel between a man and a woman that is strictly a friendship. Every relationship has some sort of a sexual basis from which the male character finds talking to the woman even worth it. Dean Moriarty is the epitome of this idea in that he only acts based on his sexual needs and desires. Throughout the entire novel, Dean is sleeping with at least three women at once and he barely becomes affected emotionally. Meanwhile, when characters such as Marylou and Camille speak to Dean, it is evident that the women have some feelings beyond those that are sexual for Dean. With this idea in mind, Kerouac is portraying the idea that women strive more towards a relationship more than just sex in comparison to the emotionally disconnected men. Overall, the men find some sort of superiority over the women in the novel that represents the attitude that was given towards women at this time in American history. 

After an in-depth analysis of Jack Kerouac’s novel as a whole, the novel’s message becomes relatively apparent. On the Road was revolutionary in that it not only provided for a commentary on culture diffusion but it also discussed the overall impact of a movement like the Beat Generation. The work was one of the first literary pieces to endorse the acceptance of other cultures and minorities and to support the liberal reality of western America. For this exact reason, the novel played a major influence on its audience after its release in 1957. The novel’s publishing preceded the great hippie movement of the 60’s and 70’s and it saw the early formation of the Beat Generation. The “beatniks” had not become a well-known part of society until a few years after the novel’s initial sales to the general public. Kerouac’s work was a significant contributor to the growing popularity of the Beat movement and the spread of a new tolerance for a number of cultures in America. When young people began to first read On the Road, they became fascinated with the ideas that were presented. Throughout the novel, there are a variety of scenes that indicate the author’s support of the liberal lifestyle that is permitted in the west. As a young audience reads more and more about these possibilities where people can come together at events and use drugs and alcohol and have multiple sexual relationships without being heavily criticized, there is a sense of great interest. The reality is that young people are always in conflict with their preceding generation, and in this specific instance, the preceding generation was extremely conservative. As a result, the “beatniks” became obsessed with the idea of rebelling and becoming part of a group that supported a completely “carefree” way of life and that allowed for the acceptance of different cultures and minorities (Literature Periods & Movements). All in all, the novel made a clear impact on its audience, both young and old, by opening their eyes to new possibilities that had always been condemned in American society. 

One of the issues that people run into is the difference between the “beatniks” and “hippies” and the transition between the Beat and Hippie movements. A comparison between the two is simple. While the Beat Generation had a more well rounded set of views that also sought racial equality and an end to discrimination, the “hippies’” mindset was limited to striving  solely towards a society without rules and regulations in terms of the excessive use of drugs and alcohol in an effort to create a sense of community. The basis to the hippie movement was to create a generation that was interconnected through its culture (StudyMode). In other words, the “hippies” sought a nation where all the young men and women went beyond just sharing the same beliefs. Instead, leaders of the movement hoped for a society where the new generation would have the same taste preferences in relation to popular culture, most commonly music, that would lead to a greater sense of community between a group of people that was brought together at first for an essentially political reason.

It is difficult to asses the value of a novel without considering the immediate affects on its audience as a whole. There is arguably no novel better than Jack Kerouac’s On the Road to portray the validity of this concept. The novel is in a continuous effort to promote the idea of racial equality by including scenes where different cultures, primarily African American, are characterized by their unique abilities and talents. Moreover, the novel also delves into the initial prospects of the Beat Generation out west in Colorado and California where the idea of being “carefree” in one’s approach is widely accepted. As a result of the novel’s controversial description of a number of topics that were usually condemned for their liberal nature, Kerouac’s work instigated a polemic where nearly every young American was fascinated at the ideas that were presented while the older generations shunned the lack of values being depicted. The novel was inarguably a source of tension and heated conversation when it was released because of the fact that the Beat movement had not even become popular throughout most of the country, nevertheless accepted. Looking back nearly six decades later, it is a strong possibility that the novel drew a great amount of attention to a movement that was in need of some sort of recognition. In addition, the literary work likely inspired many young Americans to fulfill the expectations of the “beatniks” and become a part of a generation that would allow them to become more like the characters of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty. 

Works Cited

“Beat Generation and Hippie Movement by Natcirco.” StudyMode. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014. <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Beat-Generation-And-Hippie-Movement-821442.html>. 

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin Books, 1999. Print.

“The Beat Generation.” Literature Periods & Movements. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014. <http://www.online-literature.com/period/beat.php>.

A World of Lemon Squeezers (Ari Garvett)

Ari Garvett
Period 2
May 5, 2014

    The Beat movement, also known as the Beat Generation, is defined as an American literary and social movement originating in the 1950’s. Centered in the bohemian artist communities throughout California, its adherents, who called themselves “Beats”, expressed their alienation from conventional society by alienating themselves from social problems while advocating the ideals of self purification and personal release through the “heightened sensory awareness that might be induced by drugs, jazz, sex, or the disciplines of Zen Buddhism.” (Britannica, 1).
    Centering around the movement is author and poet, Jack Kerouac, born on March 12, 1922, whose literary work On The Road has captured the spirit and essence of the Beat movement. As a young child, Kerouac attended a French Canadian school while his mother worked at a shoe factory and his father worked as a printer. In his early years, Jack only spoke Joual, a Canadian dialect of French, and as a result, despite the fact that he was considered to an American citizen, Kerouac viewed himself as a foreigner in the United States.
    In 1940, Kerouac attended Columbia University. There, he joined the Columbia football team; however, both his studies and his athletics were interrupted by the events of World War II. In the war, Kerouac served first in the merchant marine and then in the Navy where he was discharged as “a schizoid personality”.
    Immediately after the war, Kerouac had the experiences that shaped him as a writer. He returned to New York where he met Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, who together, brought the literary movement to life.
    The word “Beat”, originating from Herbert Huncke, a Times Square junkie, meant “down and out” and signified the most spiritual ‘high’ achievable through the use of drugs. Kerouac once said that the word “Beat”, was first used “to signify the feelings of despair and nearness to an apocalypse that impelled them to reach out for new experiences.”. (Lelyveld, 1).
    In his writings, as a result of the music of bebob jazz artists such as Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, Kerouac’s subject became himself and his method was to write as “spontaneously as possible.” (The New York Times, 1). In fact, On The Road was originally written on a scroll in three week blasts. Originally, Kerouac hoped to publish the novel as a scroll to allow his work to flow when reading it rather than be interrupted by the act of turning the pages.
    Overnight, Kerouac found himself to be a national sensation. The question that stems from this becomes why did the Beat movement capture the hearts of millions of Americans. Primarily, the shift towards the liberal left comes from the rejection of the conservative right. The World War II generation believed in the institution of marriage, the sanctity of virginity,  nd also, they rejected the use of hallucinogens like weed. As, a result, that generation heavily drank in order to ease the pain of the events that were occurring during that time.
    Through the course of time there are often a few people who are able to single- handily change the socio-political and cultural structure of America. Most of America, in any given generation, accepts the power that the government has over them. However, sometimes, there are individuals who separate themselves from society and fight for what they believe in.  Soon after, the majority from the original society, want to assimilate into this new world. In this case, Kerouac assisted the children of the World War II generation shift from the conservative right and join the liberal left.
    Kerouac represented the few who strayed from societal standards. With him came the Hippies who represent the final stepping stone in the process of liberalism. Both the Beats and the Hippies were opposed to war and embraced the concept of peace. Also, they did not believe in the sanctity of marriage and believed premarital sex was a moral, and acceptable act. This shift marked the complete transition to the left.
    When finally printed in 1957, the Beat Movement became widespread and was infecting the social and political fabric of America. Kerouac was disappointed in his newly found fame. He believed that he achieved fame for the wrong reason: “little attention went to the excellence of his writing and more to the novel’s radically different characters and its characterization of hipsters and their nonconformist celebration of sex, jazz, and endless movement.” (Britannica, 2). During a dialogue between Kerouac and one of his friends, Kerouac stated  "It's a kind of furtiveness ... Like we were a generation of furtives. You know, with an inner knowledge that there's no use flaunting on that level, the level of the "public," a kind of Beatness—I mean, being right down to it, to ourselves, because we all really know where we are—and a weariness with all the forms, all the conventions of the world__ So I guess you might say we're a Beat generation." Consequently, the furtiveness was lost with the fame that he achieved. For the remainder of his life Keraouc attempted to regain the secrecy that he cherished, however, he was never able to gain it back.
    Furthermore, Kerouac believed people were drawn to his movement in order to conform with the new standards that Americans were establishing for society. In other words, people wanted their self-image to appear similar to the rest of America and as a result, shifted to liberalism to be rebellious, and in essence, selfish.
    Social movements, such as the Beat generation, are used as a tool to allow society to believe in a false idea of progression and advancement of the human race. To Kerouac’s dissatisfaction, his movement, and his book On The Road, illustrates to readers that no matter how much humanity ‘progresses,” it will still indulge in a pool of selfish lemon squeezers.
    This new ‘Beat Generation’ has a direct tie-in with the Hippies. Their beliefs include the rejection of mainstream American values; exploring alternate forms of sexuality (homosexuality); and experimentation with drugs. Kerouac despised this new mainstream ‘revolution’ which forced him to eventually leave his own movement. This shocking act can be explained through the term lemon squeezers. Lemon squeezers are defined to be people who metaphorically squeeze everything sweet and useful out of someone and when all dried up, dump those people in the trash similar to what humans do with lemons. To Kerouac, the new Beatniks were parasites of his movement and were, in essence, doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons.
    In the end, history has proven through religious and governmental wars that all cultures have a common denominator - selfishness. People will go to great lengths in order to preserve and protect their beliefs and ideals. The question that stems from this is do people truly need their beliefs like race, religion, and gender?
    Simply, the answer to this question is no. The power of social constructions, “an idea or phenomenon that does not exist in nature but is created and given meaning by people” (Greiner, 226), is quite powerful. Within the exchanges between people, they develop the social value of power. In this expression, people come to believe in the necessity of ideas like money and war.
    To further this argument of the invention of ideas for the sake of selfishness is the idea of the dinosaur. In the quest of explaining all the ins and outs of this world, the concept of a dinosaur is something that people have constructed over time. Even in the face of something real, this philosophy stating that every human beings actions are selfish would invite people to question if dinosaurs existed simply because of the fossil. Metaphysically, one could argue the dinosaur is real only because the human made it. In fact, eliminating it would not violate a law of nature. Or, on the other hand, the epistemic argument suggests that humans continue to believe in the dinosaur because of the role it plays socially. The belief itself subserves a social purpose of the need for human’s beings to explain the world that they live in.
    Furthermore, tying this idea together with the theme of selfishness is the idea of murder. For generations, human beings have been taught that murdering is wrong. This ideal, proving to be yet another social construction, serves a social purpose for population control and self-preservation tendency because people do not want to be murdered. Peoples’ beliefs are shaped on what they truly want and desire from this world. The human races’ safety would be challenged if murdering was allowed, and as a result, now, it is condemned.
    In light of the previous argument, lemon squeezers infect each and every line of On The Road. Epitomizing this term is Dean Moriarty. Charismatic and handsome, with an infectious personality, Dean at first glance seems like a God. In fact, he appears to be a God that is able to escape the existential world. However, the reader quickly learns that Dean has a dark side. Amongst the things that the reader learns is that Dean is a thief, a con man, a remorseless womanizer, and most of all, selfish.
    In the novel, Dean abandons Sal twice. The first time, he leaves Sal on the streets of San Francisco with Marylou and no money. After promising Sal to teach him about living in the moment, without hesitation, Dean leaves Sal for a woman. But even worse is the second time Dean leaves Sal. While in Mexico City, Dean deserts Sal for, yet, another woman, when Sal is suffering with dysentery.
    John Tytell states that Dean is “an undecipherable puzzle of contradictions.” John further states “an erotomaniac seeking self-acknowledgement, Dean is married to three women at once, without feeling more than sexual attraction for any of his wives. He is a personification of free will, called “mad” by Sal, a word with oxymoronic qualities for the narrator, who admires and is repelled by Dean’s radical subjectivity, which challenges any official authori­ty. Indiscriminately ventillated, his energy becomes “mindless and narcissistically devouring”. (Tytell, 421)
    Soon, Dean’s effervescent personality transitions into one marked by his tragic downfall. By the end of the novel, Dean can no longer put together, or say, a coherent sentence. He experiences a mental breakdown and becomes opposite of what he is supposed to represent.
    Altogether, Dean represents the Beat Movement and its values of sex, drugs, dreams, and self-pleasure. Through Dean, Kerouac unintentionally exposes the flaws and cracks within his own movement. “Disenfranchised, the Beats tried to bend social conventions and go after individualistic aspirations, sometimes with great recklessness.” (Perkins, 1) Perkins states that the Beat Generation was preoccupied with worries of self. Among these worries include spiritual liberation and sexual revolution.
    Ultimately, like Dean, the Hippies became too extreme. Dean’s downfall stems from his overuse and abuse of substances and woman. Similar to Dean, the Hippies selfish overuse and abuse of drugs and sex led to the AIDS outbreak of the 80’s which is said to be the origin of the death of the Hippie subculture.
    In addition, someone in the grip of an addiction can be selfish and oblivious to concerns of others. Despite the fact that this ‘progressive’ movement was changing the world, it was not necessarily beneficial to humanity in any way.  According to Apple Dictionary, progression is “a movement or development toward a destination or a more advanced state...” In terms of progression in human beings, the process entails bettering the race itself. In no shape or form did the ideals of the Beat Generation benefit any character in the novel besides Dean himself. It is arguable that Dean is able to live his life to fullest; however, on the other hand, his actions caused more harm than good. Furthermore, as a whole, Dean was a parasite to anyone he encountered. His selfish sexual desires destroyed both Marylou’s and Camille’s lives and his need to feel loved drove Sal mad for many years.
    Lastly, exhibiting how the human race’s false perceptions of the world and their devotions to movements such as the Beat Movement weakens the species is the modern medical system. Before the idea that prolongation of life as much a possible was inserted in society, the world was kept strong full of youth and vitality. In fact, cultures like the Eskimos would send off their elderly (considered middle aged today) to die as they believed that another world awaited their dead and that they would not be sending the person to die, but rather, just sending them to a new world. Now, with old age homes, healthcare, and the modern medical system, people are capable of living for more than one hundred years. Although morally it might sound wrong, the prolongation of the lives of the elderly weakens the world. Essential and limited resources, such as medical care, are given to people who most often can no longer benefit society in any shape or form.
    Furthermore, in conjunction with the previous argument, comes the statement that the Beat Generation is in fact the elderly person in the old age home. The movement created a pool of selfish lemon squeezers rather than spearheading the world to change for the better.
In contrast, events like the Civil War are in fact ‘progressive’ because it moved the human race towards a better place. Through the Civil War came the end of slavery. It cannot be said that the Beat Generation accomplished nothing so lofty. The Beat Generation encouraged temptation that humanity could not afford to play with. This pales in comparison to the seismic shift occasioned by the end of slavery.
    In fact, the values and behaviors that the Beats contributed to society decades ago continues to linger in our new modern ‘progressive’ world. An article in USA today suggests that America has in fact shifted from a “we” society to a “me” society.
    In the process of examining over seven hundred fifty thousand American novels and short stories from the past fifty years, researchers have found a profound shift in the use of words like “I” instead of communal words like “we”. The argument does in fact suggest that since the 1960 Beat and Hippie movements, the world has become more self-absorbed. “The conclusion: Americans have become more focused on individualism since the 1960s, but not necessarily in the best way: It’s not the “standing on your own two feet” kind often associated with the so-called “American spirit”; it’s more about narcissism and self-absorption.” (Examiner, 1)
The American quest for social and financial power illustrates this transition to the “me” society. In a series of nine experiments, conducted by researchers, the researchers came to the conclusion that money enhances the motivation for people to achieve their own aspirations while diminishing sympathy for others. The researchers stated that whether the money was real, in the form of paper, or fake in the form of a photograph, the participants all became selfish.
    In conclusion, both the Hippie and Beat movements have left America with a pool of lemon squeezers. In fact, now, the advancement of self is the only thing that many people care about. People go to school to get into college, to get a degree, to get a job that will allow them to live a life full of consumption and focused on themselves. In the end, the selfishness that the Beat Generation is associated with outweighs the morality and values that they paid lip service to.
    The Beat Generation has created many Dean’s in today’s world. Instead of helping humanity to progress, the movement has halted humanity from moving forward. As a result of the pool of lemon squeezers created, America today is at a standstill. It is not progressing. Only when the pool of lemon squeezers is drained can America progress.

Works Cited

 LELYVELD ,  JOSEPH. "Jack Kerouac, Novelist, Dead; Father of the Beat Generation." The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/07/home/kerouac-obit.html>.
"Are we a more selfish society today?." Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2014. <http://www.examiner.com/article/are-we-a-more-selfish-society-today>.
"Definition of progress in English:." progress: definition of progress in Oxford dictionary (British & World English). N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/progress>.
Greiner, Alyson L.. Visualizing human geography. Chichester: Wiley, 2011. Print.
"Jack Kerouac." News. The New York Times , 6 Apr. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/jack_kerouac/>.
Stiles , Bradley . "The Beat Generation." The Beat Generation. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://edu.txtshr.com/docs/index-19077.html>.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Beat movement (American literary and social movement)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/57467/Beat-movement>.
Jack Kerouac. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/kamkerouac.htm>.

Term Paper (Meagan Adler)

In presenting On the Road as an endless, cyclical journey that spans throughout the country, Kerouac portrays Dean and Sal as members of the rebellious Beat Generation, attempting to escape the inescapable and restraining societal institutions that resist the purpose of the individual.  The novel signifies the purpose of the societal institutions of church, family and state and how they are implemented to restrain the individual.  It furthermore underscores the overall idea that the Beat Generation wanted to avoid these conformist values and shift society to the liberal left.  Through Dean and Sal, the reader sees that the Generation rejects church, state, and family in the search to find themselves as individuals.  These characters are constantly on the road because they fear the permanency of settling down, for they feel as if they will be forever trapped by these institutions.  The reader sees that the Beat Generation has a burning desire to escape these institutions because they fail the individual; they restrict the “young, wild, and free” mentality that the youth crave.  Although the idea of escaping the institutions is liberating, as Dean and Sal constantly end their cyclical journey back home, under the societal institution of family, the reader sees that these institutions are ultimately inescapable.  Everyone inevitably fails as an individual because these institutions contradict each other.  By doing what people think they are supposed to do they are destined to failure.  As Sal and Dean aimlessly wander throughout the nation on their cyclical journey, Jack Kerouac underscores the Kafkaesque idea that the individual is destined to fail as he is inevitably forced to conform to the socially accepted member of the flock in a restrictive country where societal institutions are ultimately inescapable.

Kerouac utilizes Dean’s character as a leader of the Beat Generation that guides the youth out of society, where they can seek to become individuals and escape the institutions.  In rejecting the conformist societal values, Dean is seen as a hipster of society; as Sal says, “They (Carlo and Dean) were like the man with the dungeon stone and the gloom, rising from the underground, the sordid hipsters of America, a new beat generation that I was slowly joining” (48).   This generation is looked down upon by society, as it is seen as a cult that rejects socially accepted values.  In resembling the structure of a cult, Dean has a flock of youthful Americans that follow him on the road and try to escape the societal institutions.  Sal proves to be one of these followers that are enamored by Dean’s rebelliousness; he says,  “I didn’t want to interfere, I just wanted to follow” (123). 

The road is a significant component of the Beat Generation’s journey to become individuals, for it is a way of staying on the move.  It gives the Generation a chance to explore and find themselves.  The Beat Generation sees the road as their live, as Sal says, “But no matter, the road is life” (200).  The road allows them to look ahead without being defined by their pasts; the reader sees this at parts of the novel such as that where Sal expresses, “What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see tier specks dispersing?- it’s a too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-by.  But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies” (146).   Along with being a way of staying on the move, the road provides feelings of spontaneity and invincibility for the youth.  Sal says, “If you drop a rose in the Hudson River…think of all the places it journeys by” (9).  On the road, he also expresses, “A hundred and ten miles an hour straight through, an arrow road, sleeping towns, no traffic” (218). 

The institution of state serves as a constant barrier, restricting the freedom of the individuals of the Beat Generation throughout the novel.  For example, Sal and Dean are constantly stopped by the police, which shows that the state interferes with their journey on the road.  They try to escape by being on the road, but the constraining institution is inescapable.  The police stop Sal and Dean on the way to Washington because they are driving on the wrong side of the road.  At one point of the novel, a police pulls out a gun and demands that Dean comes out when him and Marylou are having sex; he also demands to see Sal’s license.  Dean acknowledges the inescapable institution of the state when he says, “Oh they’re always interfering” (155).  The reader also sees that the institution is inescapable when Sal and Dean are constantly looking for money on the road. They try to rebel by stealing, yet ultimately their need for money becomes so important that they turn to family.  For example, they constantly turn to Sal’s aunt for money.  This emphasizes how the institutions support each other, making them that much stronger in limiting the individual.  Overall, the interference of the state shows that society sees the Beat Generation as a threat; it tries to oppress the individual by restraining the socially defined cult-like group. 

Similar to the ways that the state limits the Beat Generation, the institution of family also proves to be a constant threat to their individualism.  Throughout their cyclical journey, Sal and Dean constantly return back home, under the familial roof.  Also, Dean is on a search for his dad, which emphasizes the interference of the institution of family.  Sal says, “My aunt said I was wasting my time hanging around with Dean and his gang” (120); this shows that the family unit looks down upon the rebellious youth.  These examples signify the threat of the family, which is to disown their children.  The parents represent the older generation that is stuck in their past beliefs and are incapable of understanding the Beat Generation’s ideology.  They see the generation as a cult-like group that disrupts the progression of society.  Its refusal to conform ultimately serves as a threat to society.  This generation gap furthermore shows the misunderstandings between the parents and their children.  Overall, throughout the novel, the institution of family serves as an inescapable constraint that limits the freedoms of the individual and shows that the individual is destined to failure.

In addition to the ways in which family and state interfere with the freedom of the individual, throughout On the Road, it is evident that church also interferes with it.  The institution of church implements itself within the Beat culture; for example, Sal sees Dean as his God.  Sal expresses, ““Dean completely amazed me… He passed me like the wind.  As we ran I had a mad vision of Dean running through all of life just like that- his bony face outthrust to life, his arms pumping, his brown sweating…” (143).  Here, the reader is exposed to Sal’s admiration for Dean that makes Dean become Sal’s role model throughout his journey on the road.  Sal also calls Dean the “HOLY GOOF” (183) and “the holy-con man” (202), which shows that the institution of religion has interfered with the true freedom of the individual.  Sal expresses, “In myriad pricklings of heavenly radiation I had to struggle to see Dean’s figure, and he looked like God” (272).  This illusion that Sal has throughout the novel emphasizes the institution of religion that limits his own freedom as an individual.  Lastly, he says, ““As we crossed the Colorado-Utah border I saw God in the sky in the form of huge gold sunburning clouds above the desert that seemed to point a finger at me and say, ‘Pass here and go on, you’re on the road to heaven’” (171).  This furthermore emphasizes that the Beat Generation resembles a religious group that captures Sal.  This indicates that Sal cannot be an individual, for he has conformed the almost religious culture of the Beat Generation.  He explicitly states that he wants to follow and that he does not want to lead; this sacrifices the true purpose of the individual.

Throughout Sal and Dean’s cyclical journey, the reader is able to see how society prevents the growth of the individual through the fringes of society.  The fringes are the poor, homeless, and lowlifes of society that are meant to threaten the individual and draw him/her back in.  Whenever Sal sees the fringes of society he turns back home.  This shows that his journey to become an individual ultimately fails because society wins.  Society purposefully allows these people on the fringes to exist to pull the rebellious people back. Sal dejectedly expresses, “I realized I was beginning to cross and recross towns in America as though I were a traveling salesman- raggedy travelings, bad stock, rotten beans in the bottom of my bag of tricks, nobody buying” (234).  Here, he becomes dissatisfied and discouraged on his journey and wants to go back to society.  Also, he has a conversation with Dean in which Sal says, “You mean we’ll end up old bums?” and Dean responds, “Why not man? Of course we will if we want to, and all that.  There’s no harm ending that way.  You spend your whole life of noninterference with the wished of others, including politicians and the rich, and nobody bothers you, and you cut along and make your own way’” (239).  Here, the reader sees that Sal does not have the capability of being a true individual because he is affected by the thought of being a socially defined lowlife, while Dean is enamored by the idea.  He likes the thought of living a life where he can be a free individual and not be bothered with the interferences of church, state or family.  As Sal reflects upon his adventures with the “foolish gang” (155), he says, “With frantic Dean I was rushing through the world without a chance to see it” (194).  Sal becomes discouraged with escaping the societal institutions and becomes discouraged with his journey on the road.  Sal creates the image of him and Dean reaching the fringes when he 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?” (159).   Here, we can picture Sal and Dean as societal lowlifes as they aimlessly continue on their journey.  Sal begins to see the idea that he cannot forever wander throughout the nation; as Carlo Marx says, “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” (121). 

Overall, although the Beat Generation fails to become complete individuals, it does shift society to the liberal left.  The mass of people that are part of the generation force society to shift because if it does not then it will loose its future workforce.  If they refuse to shift then this workforce forever abandons society and society has no future.  Through Kerouac’s brilliant portrayal of the Beat Generation throughout the novel we are able to see how the institutions purposefully restrict the individual as they promote conformity as opposed to individuality.  They shun anyone that refuses to conform and try to pull them back in because they are a threat to society.  As underscored in the novel, “‘Bureaucracy!’ says Old Bull; he sits with Kafka on is lap, the lamp burns above him, he snuffs, thfump.  His old house creaks.  And the Montana log rolls by in the black river of the night.  ‘’Tain’t nothing but bureaucracy. And unions! Especially unions!’” (138). Whether it is through Dean and Sal’s constant need for money, Dean’s search for his father, or the religion of the Beat Generation, Kerouac shows us that society fails the individual.  

Works Cited

Kerouac, Jack. On the road. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin Books, 1999. Print.