Thesis: Many of Dostoyevsky’s ideas from “Notes from the Underground” manifest in Kerouac’s On the Road, explaining the role inherent human nature has in why Dean and Sal act the way they do.
Outline:
I. Man is self-interested in only himself; everything he does is to further his own experience –we see that in how Dean takes Sal along as a source of money, and how Sal leeches off the experiences Dean finds himself in.
II. Don’t follow rationale – Dean and Sal continually embark on adventures even when they know it’s completely against logic. They almost die a couple of times and leave their unprotected families behind, but still make the trip.
III. Impulsive to see only one side of the argument –Dean keeps acting on whim because he is so limited by the wall of adventure and life that he doesn’t stop to think or over worry, like Sal did. That’s why Sal needs him to be the guide of how to live life on the edge – relates to argument II.
IV. The journey matters more than the destination –Dean and Sal keep heading off with a final destination in mind, but don’t care how they get there. They enjoy the ‘during’ aspect, and are afraid to see the end of it –stops the excitement and danger.
I think your thesis is going to make for a very well written paper. I agree with you 100% that many of Dostoyevsky's ideas are applicable in On the Road because many of the character's are so unpredictable. I think with a large focus on Dean, this paper will be very effective. He goes from wife to wife, city to city, with no regard of any of the consequences and there is absolutely no way to explain anything he does. He is the perfect example of what Dostoyevsky talked about.
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