These next two chapters center around Sal’s want to
return to New York. Sal is trying to
make it work between him and Terry. I
think he loves Terry for her beauty and resilience, but at the end of the day
they are completely different people.
She is tied to her family in California, while he is a smart educated
man from New York. Plus his discontent
with the LA environment makes it even more difficult for him to stay with
Terry. His split with her is inevitable,
and it finally occurs in chapter 13.
Their split is mutual, and both he and Terry leave each other happily. I think she realized that it was unfair of
her to keep him working like a dog in the cotton and grape fields for her
family, when his dreams lied in New York.
Sal’s original reason for going on the road was to be wild and free with
his friends. His time in California has
been the opposite of that. Sal has been
working real jobs while simultaneously managing a real relationship with a
woman and her child. His home is New
York, and Sal always knew he would never truly leave the city forever. His time on the road to Pennsylvania is happy
and fun. Sal loves the road the most and
he makes the most of his time on the bus trips.
Unfortunately he doesn’t have bankroll to make all the way. Sal loses his happy spirit when he reaches
Pennsylvania. He misses Dean and Carlos,
and his girlfriend back in LA. Even
though he made plans to meet her again, he knows they will never see each other
again. By the time he reaches Ohio he
has already started getting with another girl from upstate New York. His spirit slowly breaks down when he runs
out of money. Sal feels sorry for
himself, and I think he has misplaced sadness.
He chose to leave Terry, and he chose to spend all of that time with
her. He could have left at any other
point in time, but he chose to make a commitment. He has created all of his own problems, and
he will pay the consequences, even if that means going broke and missing out on
seeing Dean and Carlos. By chapter 14
Dean has finally made it back to New York.
His aunt takes him in, but he realizes that Dean had been waiting for
him for a while at his Aunt’s house, and had left two days earlier. Part one ends at a depressing time in the
novel, but I think it will regain its positivity rather quickly. Sal is always great at coming up with ideas,
and I think once he earns enough money he will go back on the road out to San
Francisco to meet up with his buddy, Dean.
I think that Phil is correct in saying that Sal did not exactly accomplish what he set out to do in California and perhaps his adventures with Terry were a mistake. However ,to point out something positive from the whole ordeal , I think that perhaps Sal grew as an individual throughout the many fiascos in California and Mexico. More than anything I think Sal is beginning to understand that he absolutely cannot squander his money like he has been doing so. Sal is not always going to have an Aunt to bail him out of trouble and so even though Terry might have been a bad relationship choice for Sal ,I think it perhaps helped him prepare for future adventures that might or might not include Dean Moriarty. I agree, the ending to Part I was sad and also extremely frustrating but I also agree with Phil and I think that Sal will definitely meet up with Dean later.
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