Thesis Ideas For the Most Interesting Uninteresting Book

It seems I'm not the only one who has discovered the Beat generation. Here are my ideas:

1. What the novel teaches us about writing: Can a book tell its story without a main character and if so how can it be done?
I think we've examined the whole "Where's the main character" idea a lot, claiming Sal isn't actually a character, eventually giving up on Dean as the main character- but I personally never pinned down any sort of main character, or even the idea of one. I think it's clear that Sal is meant to be Kerouac as a sort of observer and through this observer we are told a story of a group of interesting people without a main character. Not only do I think that is something prevalent throughout the book, but I also think it's something worth thinking about.

2. The story as a representation of the original Beat generation.
Obviously this will be more of a history paper than literature, if we're being honest, but I think that because that's what the book is about it is more than worth making that the thesis. Rather I think it makes a lot of sense, and I would argue this would be the most significant of my ideas.

3. "On the road" (the phrase, not the book itself) as a concept encompassing the ideas in the book and connecting it to the Beat generation.
I feel like this would allow me to write about some of the ideas presented by the piece, but also require me to do so more than I would want to/be able to, thus limiting my freedom a bit. However, the main focus here is not necessarily the historical side of this but how the book links to the history behind it, and perhaps would be my most effective idea of the four.

4. "On The Road" (the book this time) as a picture of American culture during the relevant time period.
I didn't put any numbers because I have a really shitty memory but I want to say the 50's. If you read my blog posts I tend to go back to the idea that Kerouac does a really good job of reminding us when and where we are. With the subtle racism, casual sexism, and momentary focuses on setting, I believe the book does a pretty good job of showing us what the times were like. I feel like this is likely my weakest idea simply because it points out what's good about the book without really delving into it too much.