Just like that, Sal is wrapped up
in Dean’s vortex. The pair are back at
it, living without rules, going out on the town every night, and acting without
thinking. Their behavior reminds me a
bit of Freudian psychology and the idea of free association; not only do they
say whatever comes to mind, they do whatever comes to mind as well.
We finally get to see Sal, Dean,
and the rest of the boys hit up a huge party for the first time, and they
experience it just the way I expected.
The only thing that slightly surprised me was how Sal hooked up with
Marylou, and without any regrets either.
He knows that Marylou has been on and off with Dean forever, and in
modern times we would consider this a betrayal, but Sal gets with Marylou
without even a hesitation, even though she is only trying to make Dean jealous. Sal only mentions this occurrence in one
line, even though the reader realizes the magnanimity of what he has done in
terms of his relationship with Dean. We
do not know what Dean thinks about this yet but I have a feeling it will not me
such a big deal. The beat generation is
characterized by action, and mindless, impulsive action at that. The beats did what they wanted, not thinking
about the past or future. I almost envy
the life they live because it seems so much less stressful than the life we
live now. I feel like we spend so much
time planning for a better future that we compromise the life we live in the
present. Dean and Sal live, on the other
hand, live day by day; though this lifestyle is risky, I feel like it is so
much more exciting to never know what the future will hold.
The transition from the Huge New
Years eve party to the piano recital was ironically funny. One night, Dean and Sal are out on the town,
drinking, dancing, hooking up, and party hopping; the next night, they are at a
piano recital. The piano recital scene
made me anxious; Dean was sweating, Sal has no idea what is going on, and the
syntax and diction made me feel the same distress that Sal was feeling in the
moment. I am not sure what Sal is referring
to at the end when he says, “everything is decided forever”, but I hope he does
not mean this life of hopelessness and recklessness. I would like to think that there is a decent,
comfortable life waiting for Sal at the end of all this; a reason and purpose
for life that all the beats were looking for.
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