On the Road Movie Trailer

Alexa's Reaction to Gabe

Like Gabe, I also noticed his two different groups of friends. Most of us have different groups of friends and we tend to act differently depending on who we are around. I agree with Gabe and think that Sal definitely likes Dean’s group better because Sal is at a point in his life where he wants to be crazy and do as much as possible. He has an obvious obsession with Dean and an even more obvious obsession with having the adventure of his life. Although the intellectual side of him enjoys the other group of people more, considering he is a writer I think he has to go crazy a little bit and see what life is like when you live it like Dean. (Just like Gabe mentioned his desire to seek pleasure) However, this type of crazy life I believe should be short lived because the happiness does not last. 

Alexa Ferrer Ch 7-8

            If all men are like Dean at one point in their lives, ew. Although chapter 7 was much more fast paced and exciting everything prior to it, I want to slap Dean across the face. In my first blog post about this book I compared Dean to Jay Gatsby. Now I am ashamed I ever made that comparison. Although I still see similarities in the way they handle people and the word choice they chose, Gatsby lives his life in hopes of impressing one girl whereas Dean is just a dog trying to get in everyone’s pants. In the rare instances he is not trying to get in a girl’s pants he is trying to get his friends in a girl’s pants. I am sure a boys perspective on this part would be much different and perhaps I reacted so strongly because I know it is a reality and men are just like that. Now that Sal and Dean have reunited not much has changed. I am not surprised that Sal is just as obsessed as he has been with Dean the entire time. I hope Sal eventually learns to create his own adventures and not be so dependent on Dean. I also wish Sal would realize that Dean is a player and all his happiness is short lived by the way that he chooses to live.

            

Sharon's Response to Gabe's Reaction

            Like Gabe, I find it interesting how Sal has two completely different group of friends. I'm not sure that Sal belongs more with Dean and Carlo, however. He definitely likes being with the two more than with Major, and while he strives to be as impulsive as them, the two don't seem to include Sal as one of them. For example, they somewhat exclude him from their heart-to-hearts. However, I also agree with Gabe that Major is condescending and Sal is definitely just putting up with him due to their joint living. And while Sal hasn't been pretentious like Major, they must have been friends before because they shared something in common with each other, something that perhaps doesn't exist anymore. Major is an author, just like Sal, and they may have become friends when Sal was his prior calm, complacent self.
             I also thought that Gabe's comment that "Dean's lifestyle indicative of what was to come" is fairly accurate. Sal likes Dean's lifestyle precisely because it is a novel one, one that crosses the boundaries of Eastern living but normal in that of the expanding West.
And just as Gabe said, Sal seems to want to follow Dean's lifestyle. He is intent of being carefree like Dean and ironically, turns down the job. The only reason Dean tolerates Sal is so he can benefit off Sal’s job, yet Sal turns it down precisely because of his desire to be like Dean.

Ciara's Reaction to Sharon's Post- Chps. 7-8

I completely agree with Sharon about Sal’s relationship with Dean.  I like how she says that Dean just “tolerates” Sal, because it highlights the contrast between how Sal views Dean and how Dean views Sal.  Sal is fixated on Dean, while Dean just “tolerates” Sal. Sharon also mentions how Dean tries to use Sal for his smarts because Dean is too “busy”.  This brings us back to the first couple chapters.  Dean only hung around Sal because he was using Sal for his knowledge, as well as room and board, not because he was particularly intrigued by Sal.  Now, in Denver, nothing has changed, but this does not even seem to bother Sal.  Dean’s presence is enough to make him happy, and any interaction they have is a plus.  Furthermore, I like how Sharon put “busy” in quotations, because really, Dean’s occupations are nothing more than sexual rendezvous.  He spends his time making appointments with the girls he is going to have sex with, and spends the rest of his time playing philosopher with Carlo Marx.

A point Sharon made that I found really intriguing was her juxtaposition of Major and Dean.  It is true; Major and Dean represent two different parts of Dean’s life, and even though Major was a friend of Sal’s at a more reserved point in his life, I think that Major represents the stability that Sal needs.

Ciara's Reaction to Chapters 7-8

          Sal has finally met up with Dean in Denver, and their relationship is the same as when they were in New York, except now Sal has to depend on Dean (for girls, jobs, advice, etc.).  Just like in New York,  Sal follows Dean around like a lost puppy, constantly asking of Dean's whereabouts and schedules.  Dean has his own hectic, frenzied life to deal with and does not have enough time or interest to deal with Sal.  While Sal idolizes Dean and makes it his mission to prove that Dean is not a "moron and a fool", Dean decides that he is going to move to San Francisco with Camille and take a trip to Texas with Carlo.  It is understandable that Dean would go to San Francisco with no one but his girl, but he does not even include Dean in his trip to Texas with Carlo, showing that he does not see his friendship with Sal as anything of value.  I get the impression that Sal would give his life for Dean, but Dean's emotions for Sal are no more than one would have for an acquaintance.
     
        As for Dean's progression as a character, I now view him as nothing more than a player, despite Sal's objections.  He tries to make his life seems important and businesslike by always looking at his watch and having a fixed schedule of appointments, but these appointments consist of nothing but sexual encounters with three different women, and talks about life with Carlo Marx.  I want to see Sal weaken his fixation on Dean and makes steps toward improvements in his own life because at this point, his life is all about other people.

Reaction to ch 4, 5, & 6

Chapter four begins with “the greatest ride of [Sal’s] life,” and so the rest of the chapter is a description of this ride. I really liked the way the Kerouac described this part of Sal’s trip because it was very realistic. I could see myself doing some of the things they were doing, in the sense that it was guys just being guys on a road trip. For example, when Slim goes to pee off the side of the truck and the Minnesota guys start swerving just to mess with him. This made me feel almost as if I was there with them, laughing at Slim peeing on himself, and as if I was friends with the whole group of men that were riding along on the truck.

Chapter five then begins on what to me seemed to be like a carnival of a sort with people bustling along on the street in a large crowd. One encounter Sal had that I found particularly interesting was the girl who mentions being sick and tired of the west and wanting to go to New York because there is nothing in the west. Sal then replies that there is not anything in New York. This “grass is greener on the other side” case struck me as perhaps being foreboding of the fact that once Sal reaches Denver he won’t find what he was expecting or looking for, and that he may want to return to New York.

Finally, in chapter six, I found that my prediction had some truth behind it. Once Sal reaches Denver, he is informed of the fact that his group of friends is split up. I am curious to see how this will affect Sal’s actions in the future, and whether or not he will somehow end up back in New York.

Juan Pino

Chapter 7 and 8 Reaction

     One of the things I find interesting about Sal is how he is able to get along well with two completely different group of friends. In my opinion Sal belongs more with Dean and Carlo. Sal hasn't shown himself to be extremely pretentious like Roland Major. Indeed , I found even reading about Roland Major to be difficult as he is extremely condescending and Sal has to put up with it since he is living with him. I found Dean's hedonistic lifestyle insane, especially for the time period the book was set in.I think that is why  Sal is so drawn to Dean , he is living a lifestyle that the rest of society shuns but does not care who knows about it.Sal even says "I was amazed.Everything was so crazy". I also found Dean's lifestyle indicative of what was to come. The fact that "On the Road" is set in the late 40s means that the 60s and all it's radical changes such as the sexual revolution are just around the corner. "On the Road" basically ushers in to the new decade by showing society a glimpse of the early stages of the radical lifestyle changes occurring in post-WWII america.
     Dean seems to want to follow in Dean's footsteps and live life solely for pleasure.I think this is clearly exemplified as he turns down a steady job that Dean swings him , his excuse being  that "he just won't sleep".Although me may want to follow in Dean and Carlo's footsteps he is still excluded from their cryptic conversations in Carlo's apartment, which I found odd as he still listens to them talk (seemingly) nonsense throughout the night in chapter 8.

Sharon's Reaction to Chp. 7 & 8

            After traveling the U.S. to follow him, Sal has finally reunited with Dean in Denver. However, their first day makes me feel that where Sal eagerly sticks to Dean, Dean just tolerates Sal. Sal feeds off Dean’s energy and vibrancy; he counts on Dean to get him a girl and is constantly interested in details of Dean’s life, even calling to find out what Dean is doing during Rawlins’ party. Dean’s job talk with Sal also struck me as interesting; he wants to use Sal’s smarts to support himself as he is too “busy”. And though Sal is present during Dean and Carlo’s heart-to-hearts, the two don’t truly treat Sal as one of them, in my opinion. But it seems to me that Sal actually likes not joining in –it is enough for him to just listen because he finds the two crazy, but immensely interesting. I also found it extremely ironic how Sal aspired to stay and have adventures in Denver with his gang, yet the first week he gets there, he finds out the city is considered the ‘doldrums’ and Dean will move to Los Angeles.
            Sal’s association with different groups of friends also stood out to me. He stays with wealthy buddies Roland Major and Tim Gray, yet spends his time with rowdy, polar opposites Rawlins, Dean and Carlo. In fact, when Major and Dean meet, the former disdainfully sees Dean as foolish while the latter sees Major as stuffy and ignores him. This striking difference and Sal’s disagreement of Major’s conclusion about Dean is telling; I feel that Major represents the calm, dignified friend Sal associated with before he changed, while Dean is representative of the more impulsive quality Sal is now attracted to.

Ciara's Response to Alexa- Chapter 5 through 6

In response to Alexa, thanks for pointing out that they mentioned his name; I never noticed!  Also, Alexa mentions how there is “something magical about meeting someone you know you will never see again”, and this is a valid reason I had not thought about for why Sal is so intrigued by the Mexican lady.  In fact, Sal seems to be drawn in by every woman he encounters, probably in search of a fling.  His desires are understandable considering he just got out of a bad relationship.  Also, I felt the same way Alexa did about how the blonde girl was looking for a new life in New York.  It is just ironic how Sal left New York because life is supposed to be so much more exciting and fulfilling out West, while the blonde is heading for New York in search of a more satisfying life.  Different strokes for different folks, I guess.  Answering Alexa’s final question, I hope Sal will find excitement in Denver despite the divide between his former group.  If not, I think he will find that he faces the same problems in the West as he did in New York.  As I mentioned in my post: to Sal, it is not so much about the place, but the people.

On the Road Chapter 5-6

Chapter 5 is characterized by Sal binge drinking in Cheyenne , Wyoming. Although Sal's descriptions of things tend to remain brief , some of his thoughts are remarkably profound. He says that his "whole being and purpose was pointed at the little blonde." This is indeed a very big thing to say about a total stranger he just met , but it truly encapsulates the whimsical feeling of connecting with a stranger you probably won't encounter again.Chapter 5 also shows that Sal really lacks money management skills , this worries me as money management is an absolute necessity on the road.Once Sal finally makes it to Denver, you are introduced to his eclectic group of friends. I am really starting to like On the Road due to the diversity of it's characters. All of Sal's friends seem to have strong , distinct opinions on everything and even if you cannot side with their angle you can at the very least appreciate their passion. It is unfortunate to hear that Dean's father was a wino but I found Sal's desire to be with him despite the opinion's of his other friends particularly admirable.

Second Reaction

After having read the third chapter of this book, I am a little bit confused. I thought this book was going to be entirely about the journey to Denver, which is almost entirely across the country, but the narrator has already made it to Nebraska. In any case, I enjoyed the third chapter. I think his interactions with Eddie, his hitch-hiking friend, told a lot about his character. In particular, when Eddie borrows one of the narrator's shirts because it is cold outside, and the narrator gets a cold because of it. Then Eddie ditches the narrator when a ride is offered to them with only room for one, taking the shirt along with him. The fact that the narrator is not upset at this shows that he's grown past material things, and is willing to adapt to his situation.
Another thing I noticed about this chapter is that to the narrator, the west is as grand as it can get. He is very interested in anything that has to do with the west, such as the man whom he characterizes as the spirit of the west. He described his laugh as the "greatest laugh", and according to the narrator, the further west he travelled, the better things got for him. The better the pie, the better the ice cream, and so on.

Alexa's Reaction to Ciara and Sharon

I agree with Sharon on her point that Sal is so obsessed with memories he will create with his friends that his adventure in a way is limited. He wants to do so much and be so free but in fact he is contained by his obsession to get to Denver and catch up with Dean. His admiration for Dean is again evident when he mentions him twice in chapter 6 wondering what he is up to. I have a feeling Dean is going to completely disappoint Sal or they are going to have the best adventure of their lives together.

In response to Ciara, I do understand why he was so charmed by the Mexican lady even though she denied him. He is excited by the new people about him and in his state up "I'm getting f**ked up and I don't care" her denial is just as adorable and charming as she is. Guys are in it for the chase and the fact that she denied him made her much more interesting than if she would have accepted his offer. I agree with Ciara on her view that Sal is more interested in the people than the places; which is true. I can relate to him because a new place can be fantastic and beautiful, but the company you're with makes all the difference. He is obsessed with the idea of making memories with people in the west and I find his focus on the details of people relatable.

Alexa Ferrer Chapter 5&6

We have finally learned the narrator's name which I am quite excited about. I wonder why the author waited for Chad's mom to reveal "Sal" to us and if it had any meaning because to me it just seems random.  These two chapters were particularly short, but I found them interesting and I am starting to understand and relate to Sal. He is young and stupid, and has every right to do the stupid things he is doing. He needs to party and get all of that out of his system because everyone has to go through that phase to grow up and I think a big part of his journey is him growing up.

"I was getting drunk and didn't care; everything was fine," is a concise summary of chapter 5. When he writes the Mexican lady a love note and spends all his money and follows the little blonde girl, it is all real and amazing because it is so relatable. There is something so magical about meeting someone you know you will never see again and right now that is pretty much Sal's life, so good for him. I found his conversation with the blonde girl interesting when she wants to go to New York but he says nothing is there; it just shows how the grass is not really greener on the other side and we are all just chasing new things in life. Something else about Chapter 5 I found interesting was how he mentions the Indians he sees everywhere. I found it interesting because we really do not think of Indians as a part of our society anymore but back then I guess they were a large minority in this country.

Chapter 6 is his arrival in Denver, which starts out to be pretty disappointing. Sal's expectations to have fun with his gang are quickly interrupted when he finds out Chad has distanced himself from the group. Since he is staying with Chad he cannot do anything about the situation but I can tell the whole time he just wants to see his other friends. Apparently a lot has happened since he last talked to his friends and I wonder what happens when they are all reunited. Will it be exciting and fun as Sal is hoping, or awkward and disappointing?

Sharon's Response to Ciara's Reaction

            When looking back on the reading, I found that Ciara was right; the narrator seems to simply state everything as short facts. He relates what he does, but does not explicitly elaborate on what effect it had on him or any personal opinion outside of the immediate basics. For example, in the incident Ciara mentioned in which the narrator reads Montana Slim’s card to his father, the narrator notes how his perception of Slim alters, yet he does not elaborate on whether this change caused him to behave or interact differently with Slim; instead, the narrator just states the perception change and moves on to discussing how they picked up two girls. Yet the fact that he includes small anecdotes and seemingly insignificant incidents such as these represent, as Ciara said, what the narrator finds important and remembers from his trip to the West.
            I also agree that the narrator has a fixation on wild, interesting people; in my opinion, the narrator finds a muse in people like Dean due needing inspiration as a writer. However, I find that though the narrator is intrigued by vigorous people, he is specifically interested in Dean; he claims to go West to reunite with the gang in Denver, but when one of them, Chad, comes to pick him up, the narrator is disappointed. His initial excitement at arriving to Denver wanes after not immediately seeing Dean; instead, he becomes intensely preoccupied with wondering where Dean is and spends the first day thinking about Dean’s past.

Sharon's Reaction to Chp. 5-6

              The narrator’s character change from formerly modest and quiet, to more impulsive and daring is further detailed; he squanders the little money he had left by getting drunk and trying to get with girls. The very fact that he even gets intoxicated with Montana Slim, who he doesn’t particularly know or like, attests to his altered attitude. Yet to me, it seems that he is not changing because he is doing so unconsciously, but rather because he purposefully wants to be in the character of the West. Reading how he imagines how “[his] gang” in Denver will view him as “strange and ragged” struck me as odd; the narrator has imagined the West for so long, and wants to change and fit into its ‘impulsive’ stereotype to show his friends his new side. It reminds me of how he claims to set West for adventure, but is ironically limited to Denver and gives up other true opportunities for spontaneous fun. This behavior slightly irritates me because he seems so obsessed with reuniting with his friends; it is not about traveling West for the sake of exploring, but traveling West to follow them and tag along on the adventures his friends have.
              I also thought the hint of conflict between Chad and Dean was also interesting. Even though it was Chad who picked him up and whose house he stayed in, the narrator keeps wondering about Dean, explicitly thinking “Where is Dean and what is he doing right now?” in the midst of conversations and dinner with Chad’s family. I don’t particularly understand his obsessive preoccupation with Dean and find it off-putting. In my opinion, it displays that the narrator is reliant on Dean, who still hasn’t shown up to greet him.

Week 4 Reaction 7-8

            The next two chapters in On the Road are completely action packed.  This is a complete turnaround from the slow and quiet moments in the apartment from the last two chapters.  Sal finally meets up with Dean and Carlo, and the three start their endless party in Denver.  I noticed that Sal doesn't seem to be fully engaged with Dean and Carlo.  Even though he says to the reader that they are all good friends, he doesn't actively engage or contribute to the strange conversations that Carlo and Max have.  Plus I don’t understand how Sal puts up with the stupid conversations; they are nonsensical fragments that amount to nothing.  I find it frustrating to read an entire conversation between two characters and not understand anything they said.  We learn more about Dean and his complicated love life.  Dean’s craziness and inability to focus on one thing makes him seem as if he is on drugs throughout the entire two chapters.  Another interesting thing about Sal is his constant mentioning of not having a girlfriend.  Throughout the entire book he has mentioned occasionally that he doesn't have a girlfriend, yet lots of his friends do.  I think his journey is not only about seeing America while having a great time, but to find an awesome person to share his experiences with besides Dean, Carlo, and the gang.  Hopefully for his sake he accomplishes his goal.     

Ciara's Reaction to Chapters 5-6

As I read chapters 5 through 6, I started to realize that the narrator tends to say everything in simple terms.  He does not elaborate much on moments, even if they seem to be significant.  On the rare occasion that he does give more meaning to certain situations, they are the simpler, more insignificant occasions.  For example, when he asks the Mexican lady to go out on the town with him and she responds "No, no, I don't", the narrator says that he "loved the way she said it".  I was confused because all she did was deny him a date, and yet he sees so much beauty in this denial.  Also, when he reads the letter Slim writes to his father, his whole view of Slim changed.  The letter is simple and straightforward, but the narrator finds a tender politeness about it.  He grasps onto ideas and situations that others would naturally overlook and gives them so much value and importance, which gives the reader valuable insight on his personality.
In this reading, the idea that the narrator has a fixation on wild, interesting people is reinforced.  As he gets closer and closer to Denver, he does not mention anything about excitement about the actual city; the only thing he mentions (constantly) is his eagerness to join the "gang" in Denver.  The first time the narrator mentions going out West to Denver is after Dean packs up and moves over there earlier in the novel; only then does Denver have any appeal.  The narrator is not heading to Denver looking for a "Promised Land"; he is looking for promised men in the form of Dean Moriarty and the rest of the gang.  He is looking for the adventure and intrigue that comes with tagging along with people full of vigor and excitement, the vigor and excitement his own life lacks.

On the Road first reaction

After having read the first two chapters of this book, a series of characters have been introduced, more than one might usually encounter in the beginning of a novel. The narrator has so far only introduced characters and described them. For example, Dean Moriarty is a character who, although uneducated, seems to be bright. Because of this, the narrator seems to enjoy his company. I enjoyed the way Dean was described, especially the comparison between him and Gene Autry. Although I did not know at first who he was and had to look it up, after I found out that he was a stereotypical cowboy, Dean Moriarty's character came to life for me.
From these initial chapters, I concluded that the book would be in fact about a road trip to the west in search for change, excitement, and adventure. After all, the narrator seemed to be very intrigued by Dean and his adventurous nature, an embodiment of the west itself.

Philip's reaction to 5&6

In chapters 5 and 6 the narrator finally reaches Denver after a long journey from New York.  The narrator sticks to his typical routine of driving all day and partying at night.  He continues to try and pick up girls, but his efforts continue to end in vain yet he never stops trying.  His intense excitement over Denver led me to believe that there was going to be an entire army of friends waiting for him in Denver, but when he arrives only one person is there to pick him up.  His obsession over Dean leads me to believe that Dean will be a major part of the book, but won’t enter the story for some time.  He spends his first day in Denver doing nothing after a huge build up to this event.  I felt let down as I read the sixth chapter.  This books exciting moments fly by quickly, while the slow parts bog me down as I read them.  This writing style mimics the way we experience life.  Fun moments go by quick, while boring and annoying moments feel as if there is no end in sight.  The narrator also has a major rift tear apart his friends.  It seems as if he is experiencing some high school drama in his adult years.  Hopefully the narrator will go more in depth about why Chad, Tim, Roland, and the Rawlinses won’t speak to Dean and Carlo.  It is a possible area for a conflict to arise that could add to the narrator’s boring first day in Denver.  

Sharon's Response to Gabe's Reaction

             As Gabe said, the minute descriptions that the narrator notes as he travels along each state are extremely detailed and, when read carefully, truly hint to the fads, lifestyle and landscape of America at that time. In my opinion, what makes the novel interesting is the fact that these details are not written as simple background; instead, they are the accounts that distinctly shape the narrator and how he thinks because it is the first time he is heading into Western territory. Thus, we are able to experience the confusion of constant change just as the narrator is at the same time as he makes his way from state to state. Additionally, I also found the incident, where the narrator wakes up to forget who he is, telling as well. I don’t necessarily think that he’s stuck choosing between two lifestyles, but more that he has fully accepted heading towards the West and has come to the realization that it is truly happening; he is not just dully waiting for it to happen as he did in his youth in the East. For him, it is something new; he never imagined himself to be placed in the situations he is right now, such as lying in a gloomy Des Moines inn, and thus has to take a moment to readjust. 

Sharon's Reaction to Chp. 3 and 4

            I feel that Chapters 3 and 4 definitely signaled a shift in the narrator’s attitude and behavior, though not as much as I would have liked. Instead of the reserved, undemanding and dully satisfied person he was before his divorce, the narrator is now more daring and energetic. He sets out to the West with only a few belongings, agrees to travel with a fellow hitchhiker, and gets intoxicated on a truck ride with others. However, although he has expanded his boundaries, the narrator is still holding himself back. In my opinion, he is still passive and too generous; he lends Eddie his shirt when Eddie gets chilly, yet gets a cold himself. Additionally, he fails to get mad or argue, viewing Eddie as only “absent-minded” when Eddie jumps onto a trailer and abandons him in the middle of an empty Shelton.

            Personally, I was interested in the narrator’s description of “the greatest ride in [his] life” on the truck with the others. It was a situation unlike any other he thought would happen to him –sitting on a truck flatboard with eclectic people he’d never met while it headed to the West coast of Los Angeles. In addition to this divergence from the norm, I believe that the narrator immensely enjoys the trip because he can soak up and study the varying attitudes of others onboard. What I strongly disliked, however, was the narrator’s continual desire to be reunited with Dean and other ‘friends’. The narrator leaves his house intending to go on a journey, yet this narrow-minded goal to meet with them at Denver causes him to give up all the opportunities he has to truly explore the West; he turned down chances to travel with a circus, and a free, straight ride to Los Angeles.  

Alexa's Reaction to Gabriel

Who is Sal? Were you able to find out the narrator's name because I am confused.

I do agree with your points regarding the description of his adventure. The part about the crossroads got me thinking as well because he is so young and has so much ahead of him that being at this crossroad in the middle of the country is a defining moment in his life. Also, like you said, the descriptions of America at the time are interesting I particularly liked the scene in chapter 4 where they are going into a local gas station and some teenagers are dancing to the music playing. I love to picture how people were back in the day because in reality they all had the same thoughts and struggles we do, just different styles and ways of living. The little things he describes about how America was are the details of the story I enjoy most.

Ciara's Reaction to Alexa's post- Chapter 3-4

I agree with Alexa’s idea that the narrator needs to start looking after himself more, before dealing with the needs of others.  By the end of the fourth chapter, he only has 7 dollars left, which makes sense considering he buys everything from packs of cigarettes, bus tickets, and whiskey for other people. He is a very generous person, which is usually considered a good thing; however, as Eddie displays when he leaves the narrator stranded, it is a dog-eat-dog world, and the narrator has to look after his own needs first.

Also, although Alexa says that she does not see how the trip with the last group of guys could be “the greatest ride of [his] life”, I think it is all about perspective.  From what we know, the narrator lived a dull, unfulfilling life before he went on the road.  The men are full of life and like to have a good time (besides Blondey), so the narrator is drawn to them like he was to Dean.  To me, this would not be a ride I would think of as “the greatest ride of my life”, but to Dean, at that moment, he would rather be there than anywhere else. 

Also, I do not exactly think that the boy is silent and gloomy because he has a grip on reality; I think that the boy has a sad story that has left him in this state of depression, and that he is unable to enjoy the company of the rest of the group.  If anything, his misery has shrouded his reality; everyone else is having a good time and enjoying the company, yet he keeps to himself without any engagement.

Ciara Keane's 2nd Reaction-Chapters 3-4

In chapters three and four, the narrator’s adventure on the road truly commences. The narrator makes his way to Denver by hitchhiking with anyone he can catch. A hundred miles, here, a hundred miles there.  With all of the different people he meets and all of the stories they have to tell, I can not see how Denver is going to be any more interesting than his adventure to get there, but I do not think the narrator realizes this.  He is so determined and focused on getting to Denver, a place he has put on such a high pedestal, that he ignores the adventures that stare him in the face as he attempts to get there. For example, when he is offered the job from the man who owns the carnival, he dismisses the opportunity because he does not want his arrival in Denver to be delayed; however, this is how adventures come about: through “spur of the moment” decisions.  He could have made money from the carnival, had a place to board, and done something exciting and unexpected, but instead, he chose to move on.

Furthermore, I do not think the narrator is so excited to get to Denver, as he is to see the people there.  He develops these attachments to exciting people who always leave him; they all have their own agenda, and it does not involve him.    Dean used the narrator for knowledge and board, and then left him to go to Denver.  Eddie used the narrator for food and bus tickets, and abandoned him when the trailer car only had space for one person.  For all we know, his wife used him and left him in the same fashion.  He claims to want to go to Denver for the adventure and excitement, but he is given opportunities to experience both on the road.  He rejects these opportunities, blinded by his fixation on getting to Denver and being with “the gang”.