Part 1 of Term Paper (Meagan Adler)

In presenting On the Road as an endless, cyclical journey that spans throughout the country, Kerauc 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” (pg.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 is enamored by Dean’s rebelliousness; he says,  “I didn’t want to interfere, I just wanted to follow” (pg.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” (pg.200).  The road allows them to look ahead without being defined by their pasts.