Sharon's Second 500

Sorry I fhad orgotten to finish the 500 after Orlando:/

            A second focal point that Dostoyevsky’s novel centers on is the fact that humans in general do not follow rationale, thus willingly walking straight into situations of self-harm. The reason for this behavior is not, as Dostoyevsky analyzes, due to unawareness or lack of understanding; rather, even though they know what will happen, humans purposefully choose to go against what is in their best interest simply because they can –it serves to reassure them that they can still exercise their own free will. The idea of the Beat Generation embodies this; just like Dean and Sal, the entire young generation rebelled against the ‘safety’ of the plain and normal paradigm of that time. In the search for the meaning of life, they experimented with relatively freer, but taboo and more unsafe, activities, such as constant usage of drugs, in an effort to exercise their free will in not being relegated to the same sensible, tedious lifestyle of the earlier generation.

Similarly, Dean and Sal consistently go back onto the road in an effort to combat the humdrum of ‘normal’ life, even when they know it is completely illogical. The pair travel through places they’ve never even heard about and with hitchhikers they don’t know when there is no one else to bring them anywhere; in addition, they do not worry about what they are doing, ignoring all the risks and consequences of such actions like ‘foolishly squandering’ (29) money at clubs. Even with the little they have, and the knowledge that they should budget even a dollar or two, Dean and Sal always end up with nothing by the end of the night. In the later half of the novel, the two even leave their families who need them behind, going against the families’ wishes and abandoning the stability of domestic life for the impulsive freedom of the road. In fact, the first time Sal leaves, his aunt tells him not to as that Dean would get into trouble, but Sal still chooses to leave, knowingly picking the life on the road because he can. Although he starts off his travels with the claims of self-actualization in the first half of the book, Sal seems to actually want only to follow Dean; even though, according to his desires to start a new, refreshing and exciting life doing things he’s never done before, it would be in his best interest to take up all opportunities for an adventure presented during his initial travels, Sal does not. When confronted with the chance to join a traveling circus or take a free trip to California with an immensely entertaining, wandering group, Sal rejects all offers because he wants to follow Dean specifically. However, this directionless search for Dean’s respect causes Sal to abandon older, truer friends from his previous lifestyle, like Chad and Roland Major; by preferring to be with Dean, who is a considerably less sound friend, Sal rejects his own best interests and seeks to follow Dean around simply because it is what he has chosen to do.