Sharon's First 500 Words

            Published in the late 1950’s, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road explores the whirlwind era of the jazzy Beat Generation. Countering the established, mainstream way of doing things, the younger generation rebelled to create their own freer, meandering way of exploring and living life. This deep search for the meaning of life and one’s place in society is exemplified in the novel’s protagonist, Sal Paradise, and his constant reliance on friend Dean Moriarty; their intense quest for enjoyment of, and perspective about, life brings them around various cities in the United States into countless predicaments and experiences over the course of several years. Despite various personal problems at home, both never turn down an offer to take a trip ‘on the road’, excitedly leaving without any reservations, worries or preparation for the road ahead. Such behavior, while impulsive, is easily explainable through Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s analysis of the human nature in his novel, Notes from the Underground; his outline of human behavior explore inherent characteristics that define a person and differentiate them from each other and other animals. While these traits all manifest in Sal and Dean, several form the core elements to which their carefree outlook and exuberant behavior stem from.

            The underlying topic throughout Dostoyevsky’s novel is that man is only self-interested in himself to the point that everything he does is solely to further his own status and experience. This resonates in the relationship between Dean and Sal, and why the two are always together. It is clear from the start that Dean does not consider Sal his equal socially, while Sal does not regard Dean as his equal intellectually; the reason for their connection is thus because both need each other to cover up the area he is respectively lacking. Having recently divorced, Sal is searching for a new, refreshing experience, one that helps him leave his structured, tedious life behind –Dean gives this to him on a silver platter, “Somewhere along the lines, I knew there’d be girls, visions, everything…would be handed to me…” (7). Sal knows that he himself cannot survive on the road alone or ever come in close contact with the more impulsive ones without Dean’s help. For all that he is searching for a new life, Sal also remains true to his roots in starting another book, one that he finds inspiration for through Dean’s life. In sticking with Dean, Sal joins in, in an almost ‘leeching’ manner, on his rambunctious lifestyle, both learning to enjoy life himself and taking notes on Dean’s interactions with his other friends. However, this relationship goes both ways; Dean allows the socially inferior Sal to stay by his side because he needs Sal’s resources. As the educated one, Sal is more endowed financially to fund their trips, and intellectually to obtain a job. In fact, the first time Dean scouted out Sal was because the former had no other place to live, and wanted Sal to teach him how to write. There have also been countless times where the pair stop by Sal’s friends’ houses just to pick up money and then continue on the road again.