I still can’t tell if I really enjoyed On The Road or if I’m
extremely annoyed by it. Although Sal is the main character it is almost as if
his life revolves around this crazy adventure with Dean. In Sal’s mind, Dean is
the main event. In Dean’s mind, Sal is a supporting character. Sal’s name isn’t
even shared to the reader until sufficiently into the book when we already know
all about Dean. Both of these characters know what it is to be settled down.
They have both been married and lived a normal life but with this new change of
a generation on the go, they have found a “high” from running. They’re on the
road running away from life and responsibilities and the whole point of the
book it seems to me is that to be on the road means to be on a never ending search
for some kind of fulfillment that will never actually be reached because it’s
detached from reality.
Dean seems to be getting crazier as the story comes to an
end. At first he was introduced as this charming, endearing, wild playboy with
crazy adventures to be had. Now I look at him as an old convict, a womanizer,
and a creep. The way he talks about Marylou and then sees nothing wrong with
still being married to Camille is almost as inappropriate as him convincing Sal
and Marylou to have sex in front of him or to drive cross-country naked. I
don’t even understand why Dean keeps Sal around for so long when he doesn’t
really care about any aspect of his life. I feel like it isn’t enough to have
Marylou with him because she is a woman and he feels the need to be validated
by telling all his stories to a man like Sal.
Once Sal parts with the “happy couple” we can see how
unsatisfied he is with his life. As crazy and weird as life on the road is for
him, it’s where he is most comfortable and where he has made a life for
himself. There is something comforting about the unknown because there are
endless opportunities and hope (even if most of the time the destination of
final happiness is never actually reached.)
Even from the beginning in chapter 8, Sal knew that what
they were searching for was unattainable. He even says, “That last thing is
what you can’t get…Nobody can get to that last thing. We keep living in hopes
of catching it once for all.” (Ch 8, pg 48). Even before he starts his journey
Sal knows the outcome but he’s so obsessed with Dean the madman he does it anyway
only to prove himself right in the end. The road leads to nowhere because there
is no concrete destination to fill the voids they were trying so desperately to
fill.
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