Sal: “You mean we’ll end up like old bums?” Dean: “Why not, man? Of course we will if we want to, and all that. There’s no harm ending that way. You spend a whole life of noninterference with the wishes of others, including politicians and the rich, and nobody bothers you and you cut along and make it your own way” (Meagan Adler)

      At the conclusion of our seemingly never ending cyclical journey with Sal, we are able to experience the sense of belongingness that begins to define both him and Dean as we leave Denver, the city life “dissolving to our sight” (pg.255), and go on the road to Mexico.  Dean is able to relate to the people of Mexico, a country where “Everybody’s cool, everybody looks at you with straight brown eyes and they don’t say anything, just look, and in that look all of human qualities are soft and subdued and still there” (pg.266); here, we see that Dean feels like an integrated part of the laid back society as opposed to how he feels in America, where he is an looked down upon outcast, burdensome to the judgmental society.  As Sal describes, “His eyes were red-streaked and mad and also subdued and tender- he hand found people like himself” (pg.267).  Here, I sympathized with Dean and felt like it was almost a bittersweet moment, for he was neglected by all the societal institutions as a child and never truly had a place in American society.  A particularly powerful part of the end of the novel that underscores the idea that Sal worships Dean as a God is that when he is high and says, “In myriad pricklings of heavenly radiation I had to struggle to see Dean’s figure, and he looked like God” (pg.272); this emphasizes the idea that Sal sees the Beat Generation’s attitude almost as a religion, being led by the heroic individualist, Dean.  Another part of the conclusion that I found particularly intriguing was that where Sal says “You mean we’ll end up like old bums?” (pg.239) and Dean replies “Why not, man? Of course we will if we want to, and all that.  There’s no harm ending that way.  You spend a whole life of noninterference with the wishes of others, including politicians and the rich, and nobody bothers you and you cut along and make it your own way” (pg.239); here, Dean expresses the Beat mentality in that the rebellious Beat Generation wants so desperately to escape the societal institutions that restrict them as individuals.  With Dean as its leader, the generation is trying to pull society to the liberal left and ultimately allow the individual to prevail over the conformist; it is for this reason that it rejects society and wants to stay moving on the road.  Ultimately, we see the substantial impact of this generation on America in shifting society’s approach and causing the people to question their current values, for their movement is unforgettable; we, like Sal, will always “think of Dean Moriarty” (pg.293).