Ciara's First 500 Words

When we look back at our history, it is self-evident that men take the throne while women sit on the backburner.  Humans are the superior species, but men are treated as the superior class.  Though modern times have seen an improvement in terms of women’s place and regard in society, modern literature shows us that we still have a long way to go, highlighting the injustice and inequality still experienced by women in the last half- century. On the Road, written in 1957,is a novel about the life of Jack Kerouac, a renowned member of the beat generation.  Told from a phallocentric point of view, On the Road leaves the women it introduces to be portrayed solely as objects of disposable pleasure and entertainment. This objectification of women is only further reinforced by the hedonistic approach on life encapsulated by the beatnik generation.  This inferior treatment of women can be analyzed in the characters of Camille, Marylou, Terry, and Walter’s Wife.

Camille, being one of the main female characters in the novel, is victim to a large part of the abuse directed towards women in On the Road.  In one instance, Camille was crying in her room over her dire situation and Dean’s lack of care for her.  Sal was hesitant to enter the only bathroom in the house, located in her room, for fear of intruding on her privacy, but Dean responded by saying, “Go right ahead, she does that all the time.”  Dean shows a lack of empathy for Camille, disregarding her feelings and treating her more like an unwanted object possession than a human in need.  Sal said that it was “horrible to hear Camille sobbing” and they “couldn’t stand it” so they “went out to buy a beer.  Rather than trying to console her or make up for the agony he caused her, Dean chooses to disregard her.  Her crying and whining is not a part of his dream of having a happy-go-lucky, constantly horny woman at his disposal, and he makes this clear when he disregards her pitiful state.

Though Sal is slightly more respectful than Dean, he is still oblivious to the way Camille is being treated.  When Sal meets Marylou for the first time, he says “Camille was such a relief after Marylou; a well-bred, polite young woman”, and when the group of girls is criticizing Dean for his treatment of Camille, Sal defends Dean by saying that Dean “never left her, she kicked him out.”  Sal is insensitive to the fact that Camille has gone to hell and back dealing with Dean’s maniacal antics: not being able to hold a job, neglecting to support his child, and refusing to acknowledge her humanity.  Like many men in this time period, Sal sees Camille as being at fault for her actions, he too exhibiting a lack of understanding and compassion when it came to Camille’s state of mind.