Final Paper

Juan Pino

Period 5

May 5, 2014

Kafka Pillars and On the Road

Franz Kafka introduced the idea that our society revolves around three pillars: State, Church, and Family. These three pillars of society were greatly affected by the Beat Generation in the 1950’s, and that is a fact. Evidence of this is visible in how the culture changed from the 40’s to the 50’s to the 60’s and so on. The so-called “Beat Generation” who began this social revolution is comprised of mavericks that in essence rejected all conventional society. On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, provides insight to the Beat Generation, thus illustrating the presence of Kafka’s pillars in our society, how the Beat Generation bent and altered it, and the general relationship between the two.

Through his work Kafka meticulously developed his concept of how our society works. By way of his works Kafka is able to boil everything down to the three separate institutions: church, state, and family. In his analysis Kafka argues that the institutions are all linked and work together to corral and guide our society down a certain path; to behave in a certain manner. In exchange for abiding by each of the institutions’ regulations, the individual is rewarded. The state provides protection, though we are punished if we fail to obey laws. Family provides love, shelter, and money, but we are disowned and cut off should we disrespect any rules our families may have set. The church promises paradise if we live according to its commandments, and eternal damnation if we fail to do so.

Simultaneously, Kafka believes that, despite their connections to each other and having mutual goals, the institutions that constitute our every day lives contradict each other. In consequence, the system we live in is a flawed one and although it has been designed to set our moral standards and maintain order, ultimately we are only doomed to fail. By choosing to abide by one of the institutions’ rules, Kafka argues that we are bound to infringe upon rules set by the other institutions. His work clearly reflects this idea. For example, in “A Country Doctor”, the protagonist is confronted with a situation that forces him to pick a single institutions’ rules to follow because if he does not do his job he is disobeying the state, but if he leaves the woman there to be harmed he is breaking family and church rules. Furthermore, after electing to go aid the boy, the boy asks him to let him die, putting him in another situation where he must elect to follow one of the pillars while disregarding another.

To begin the analysis of Kafka’s pillars in the novel by Jack Kerouac, the presence of the church pillar that Kafka alluded to in his stories is noticeable. In On the Road, Kerouac does not bring the church pillar forth in a traditional sense. The characters that represent the Beat Generation are not bound by a traditional moral code such as the bible. In On the Road, a key characteristic of the Beat Generation is that they are attempting to figure everything out. They explore new ways to represent God; they have a different mindset for everything that is spiritual. In other words, these characters that Kerouac has created are attempting to define God and the church and thus this specific Kafkaesque pillar affects them all differently.

A clear example of this is Sal who finds God in travelling. “I drove through South Carolina and beyond Macon, Georgia, as Dean, Marylou, and Ed slept. All alone in the night I had my own thoughts and held the car to the white line in the holy road. (Part 2, Ch. 6, P. 13) What a Catholic man may find in Church, Sal finds on the road. Now for the second part of Kafka’s theory, which states that the pillars contradict each other: If the average person were to take up Sal’s way of thought and go on the road like Sal does, with no goals and for simple joy of the journey, then the family would almost certainly cut that person off. It is simply too much of a burden to have someone leeching off you like that, enjoying what is an extended vacation that they call a way of life. In the end, for this situation, the church and family’s interests collide and are not one and the same.

Another example of untraditional form of church in On the Road comes along with Dean Moriarty. One of the ways Dean finds spirituality, or anything remotely close to a religion for that matter, is through sex. As can be seen in this quote, “Dean had dispatched the occupant of the apartment to the kitchen, probably to make coffee, while he proceeded with his love problems, for to him sex was the one and only holy and important thing in life, although he had to sweat and curse to make a living and so on,” (Part 1, Ch. 1, P. 4) Dean prioritizes sex above everything else. In other words, his moral code and everyday choices revolve around sex.

In Dean’s particular situation, his religious pillar dictates essentially that he must seek sex perpetually. In consequence, this contradicts the state and family pillars. Dean at one point has multiple wives, which in the United States is illegal. Furthermore, despite the fact that socially it is frowned upon to have mistresses, it is not illegal and thus technically pillars do not contradict in that respect. The technicality of it comes in the moment Dean obtains multiple wives, putting Kafka’s theory into play with respect to the state pillar. As for the family pillar, which is constituted by friends in Dean’s case, Dean constantly ditches his friends (and thus his family) for sex. As a result, the family and church pillar’s interests gainsay.

Subsequently, the family pillar also makes its presence felt in On the Road. The traditional definition of family is: a group of people related to one another by blood or marriage. Of course On the Road, being the epitome of the Beat Generation, cannot be analyzed in a traditional sense. In On the Road, a family can be taken to be any group of people who spend an inordinate amount of time with one another for the pleasure of their company. As a result, with the relationship Dean and Sal have they could be considered family. Other examples of family include Terry and Remi Boncoeur, whom Sal lived with for some time. The tangible differences in the traditional definition of family and the modern version established by the Beat Generation is a perfect example of how the Beat Generation has shifted and affected Kafka’s pillars.

The contradictive aspect of Kafka’s family pillar in On the Road is most visible when Sal is with Terry and Remi. With Terry, Sal’s feelings were incredibly strong, to the point where he was even compelled to establish a traditional family with her. In the end, the road called to him, and thus church and family conflicted. Sal’s natural tendency to go and be on the road as part of the Beat Generation overpowered his feelings for Terry, which were pulling his very being into a more traditional state.

The last Kafka pillar, whose presence is felt much less in On the Road when compared to the other pillars, is that of the state. The characters that represent the Beat Generation in On the Road do not necessarily revolt directly against the government for they are not trying to overthrow it. Their motives revolve around not wanting to be controlled by anyone or anything in anyway, and governments do exactly that. Essentially, the Beat Generation in On the Road is comprised of anarchists in the sense that they are for an absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual. This particular quality can especially be seen in Dean who absolutely despises being tied down. Furthermore, in the novel the government hardly interferes with the plot or anything at all for that matter, portraying the Beat Generation’s adamancy to being subjugated. On another note, historically, once all of society shifted from a traditional position to a more liberal one, the government could be seen taking more effect as Kafka’s pillars reasserted themselves. Until that occurred, the state pillar of Kafka’s theory was rendered ineffective. This goes to show how both society and the pillars affect each other.

Ultimately, the relationship between Kafka’s pillars and the Beat Generation is a complex one. In On the Road, one is privileged with insight to what the Beat Generation was like and as a result, one can see the way all three pillars of Kafka’s theory function and behave in and outside of the context of On the Road. With this I conclude my term paper, and so, “Ha ha charade you are.”

Citations

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin, 1991. Print.

Alexa Ferrer Final Term Paper

         On The Road presents its reader with a detailed account of a generation shift known as the beat movement. The beat movement can be characterized by a generation trying to detach themselves from the constructed norms of society and free themselves from responsibility. Their desire to stray away from society can be compared to Kafka’s work where there is a constant reoccurrence of characters trying to move away from society but always getting pulled back by the three pillars that make up society: state, church, and family. In an attempt to escape the reality of society, the Beat Generation found it most effective to reject Kafka's 3 institutions by staying on the road. The only worries the characters of On the Road faced went back to one or more of the institutions, and their solution was always to run away and keep running.

        Generation shifts occur when a large enough part of society, typically the young and upcoming generation, rejects certain standards of society and starts creating new accepted standards. Once enough people join the new movement, it becomes an accepted part of society and the norms of society typically shift. For this reason, it is impossible to ever fully escape society, which is evident in On The Road because even though the characters keep running, they are never free. Even while traveling cross-country, there are constant run ins with the law and constant family drama. The beat generation, kids who just want to run and be care free, are the perfect example of how trapped people are in society because of how impossible it is to fully escape because many of the things they did on the road that defied society is now an accepted part of society because of the power of the generation shift.

           The most prominent example of the characters of On The Road rejecting Kafka’s pillars of society is seen through the rejection of the State. A reoccurring theme throughout the novel is how the police are constantly brought up in a negative light. The main character to go off on a tangent about how much he detests the law is Dean, considering he had spent time in jail and was on a mission to never settle down and surrender to a typical life under the eyes of the law. However, even other people Sal and Dean met on the road had similar feelings towards law enforcement and one man told them “Them goddamn cops can’t put no flies on my ass!” (Kerouac, 1.3.5) In addition to characters on the road bad mouthing the police, there are several situations that prove some of the corruption. At one point Remy gets Sal a job as a security job only to further ruin the reputation of law enforcers. He never stayed sober on the job and spoke about the police’s interests as only being to meet quota to avoid being fired. The old cop that Sal spoke to on the job even reminisced in his old days where all the cops used to abuse the prisoners and take advantage of their power.

 This rejection of the law ties into the rejection of the fundamental pillar of society, further proving the beat movement’s rebellious generation shift. In addition to negative light casted upon law enforcements, the actual characters from On The Road do their best to avoid run-ins with the law at all costs. Their paranoia is evident in several scenes in the book and can be analyzed as more than just anxiety towards police. “A tall, lanky fellow in a gallon hat stopped his car on the wrong side of the road and came over to us; he looked like a sheriff. We prepared our stories secretly. He took his time coming over. "You boys going to get somewhere, or just going?" We didn’t understand his question, and it was a damned good question.” (Kerouac, I.3.18) In this scene it becomes clear that although they dislike authority, their paranoia comes from something else. The fact that they do not have an answer to where they are going shows that it gives them anxiety to be confronted by an authoritative figure that represents society because they are trying to escape society all together. 

The characters seem almost incapable of functioning in society. There is no sense of stability in terms of settling down and getting a job. Throughout the majority of the book the characters are unemployed and live off of the money they borrow or beg for. Although Remy gets Sal a job for a brief period of time, it proves to be a waste of time and adds on to the negative light casted on any type of authority. Remy and Sal were constantly drunk on the job as security guards, which invalidated the legitimacy of authoritative figures. There is no respect for the law, as Remy would steal food and justify it by saying, “You know what President Truman said, “We must cut down the cost of living.” (Kerouac, I.11.62) The state is constantly mocked and rejected as a means of pushing away that part of society and avoiding any sense of order or continuity.

The second part of society rejected by the characters of On The Road is family. Family is a vital part of society because family is what provides shelter and safety until one is able to work on his or her own in society and then form his or her own family to restart the cycle. Family and state go hand in hand and it is evident that by rejecting one, the other will also be rejected. Because Dean is always on the road, it is nearly impossible for him to maintain a relationship. There is a focus on Dean’s relationships in the book and how he always goes back and forth between marriages. Although it is true that divorce is a common and accepted part of society, what is not as common and as accepted is going back and forth between people one has been married to, which is exactly what Dean does. Dean is the most interesting character when it comes to dealing with a family because he is completely incapable with following the accepted norms of having a family and treating a family. 

Dean’s inability to stay committed to one woman reflects the greater idea of breaking up the idea of what makes up the concept of “family” in a society. Throughout the book there is a focus on Dean’s back and fourth marriages. When Dean is first introduced to the audience he has left Marylou, a stereotypical dumb blonde. Dean and Marylou’s relationship is interesting considering the point in time it took place. The way they act with each other signals a shift to the way a relationship in general has evolved. The promiscuity that is very typical in today’s society was new when On the Road took place. Dean and Marylou represent the pendulum shift from a traditional type of marriage and relationship to a type of relationship that is common in today’s society with an accepted idea of “on and off relationships”. In the context of the novel, their relationship was reckless and in many ways ridiculous. They were completely in love one moment and the next Dean would call Marylou a whore and she’d be on her way. In today’s society, that type of unstable relationship is starting to become more and more accepted. This goes to show that society will always catch up with new trends and accept them slowly. It may have seemed like Dean and Marylou were defying all accepted norms of what it meant to be in a relationship, but from the time the book took place until now society has caught up and their reckless passion has been embraced as part of our culture.

      The promiscuity described throughout the novel, which seemed dangerously scandalous considering the time it took place is now a very prominent part of American culture. Not only have the accepted norms for promiscuity become less strict, but people’s attitudes towards sex have changed to slowly resemble the kind of attitude Dean had regarding sex. Traditional values regard sex as a sacred act that is important in marriage and in the creation of a family; however, according to Sal none of those values stuck with Dean as seen through his description of him, “For to him sex was the one and only holy and important thing in life, although he had to sweat and curse to make a living and so on.” (Kerouac, I.1.4) Sal says this about Dean to show that his main priority had nothing to do with any of the three institutions of society. Because promiscuity failed to fit into the ideal image of society, society eventually evolved in order to include it as part of the culture.

The third and final institution of society is the Church, which is almost completely absent throughout the novel. By living life on the road there is no order or sense of routine, therefore; the church itself is never part of the journey. Church as a pillar of society extends to religion and how it governs one’s life, and that concept is seen throughout the novel especially in Sal. It is almost as if Sal has found his religion in Dean, which rejects the traditional views on religion and signals yet another generation shift. Instead of idolizing an instilled belief system like religion, Sal decides to idolize a person, which is becoming more and more common in today’s modern society. Sal often uses the word “holy” to describe things about Dean. Sal even refers to him as a new kind of American saint. To Sal, a saint was someone who had no sense of the three pillars that made up society. The new kind of saint was someone who walked to their own beat and followed no rules, just like Dean. In part 3 Dean is even referred to as a prophet, “Dean laughed. For years he had been chief prophet of that gang and now they were learning his technique.” (III.3.6) This quote shows how Dean took the lead of the beat generation and what he represented became the religion that the rest followed.

In many ways the entire generation shift is embodied through Dean. Everything he stood for and the way he acted was completely unheard of at the time, which is primarily why Sal became so fascinated by him. Dean represents the change that disrupts the norms in society, while Sal represents those who follow it and eventually make it an accepted part of society. On The Road is the story of how a generation shift evolved out of a group of young people who simply wanted to escape from society, yet society ended up catching up with them. In an attempt to reject all three of Kafka’s institutions that make up society, the entire American culture changed along with them, proving that there is no way to abandon society.

Works Cited: Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Viking Press, Inc., 1957. Print.

Sharon's Term Paper

Sharon Peng

Term Paper – On the Road and Dostoyevsky

            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…” (Kerouac 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 has also been countless times where the pair stops by Sal’s friends’ houses just to pick up money and then continue on the road again. 

            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” (Kerouac 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 and more impulsive friend, Sal rejects the reasonable choices that would have kept him safer.

            The idea that Sal has begun to make more self-harming decisions feeds directly into Dostoyevsky’s analysis of impulsive versus cautious human behavior. These actions do not arise for no reason; in fact, those who normally fight for what they believe in only do so because they are too ignorant to see the whole idea and weigh all the options. Dostoyevsky compounds this conclusion by contributing his own inability to act to being too smart. His own knowledge and constant thinking render him, and other intellectually superior humans, too perceptive to just pick one side of the argument and act ‘blindly’ as the impulsive people do. Sal, in the beginning of the novel, is the embodiment this latter attitude; he never ventures to the craziness of a life on the road, partially because of his obligations at home, but also partially because he was too indecisive, “always vaguely planning and never taking off” (Kerouac 1). He had worried too much and never got anything done, a sign of his intelligence.

            On the Road, however, marks the transition from Sal’s cautious, conservative lifestyle to one of gambles and risks. Upon the divorce, he decides to finally throw away any inhibitions and set out. Although difficult at first, as evidenced by Sal’s misery during the first few days after realizing his preconceived notions were incorrect, Sal later adjusts to his new lifestyle by using Dean as a guide to living life on the edge. The subsequent more decisive, albeit wild, behavior that results is, as Dostoyevsky analyzed, representative of Sal’s freer nature in which he is no longer overwhelmed by constant overthinking, choosing instead to make decisions in the spur of the moment without thinking of the consequences. While Sal chooses this lifestyle, however, Dean embraces this decisive, impulsive nature because it is the only one that has ever made sense to him. In accordance with Dostoyevsky’s observations, Dean has never considered any other life because he is simply unable to picture himself without being on the road. Just as the generation before the Beat had only accepted a sensible and structured society, Dean can only appreciate wild risks; he is too set in his ways and stubborn to accept anything else.

            For this reason, Dean also embodies Dostoyevsky’s idea of walls; like much of the Beat generation, Dean tries to go against the structured society of the time, breaking down the wall of conformity. In doing so, however, he is setting up a different one –the belief that only being on the road will give him the happiness he wants. Even suffering from withdrawal-like symptoms and depression whenever he has somewhat settled down with his family for a short time, Dean feeds off of being on the road to such an extent that he cannot function well outside of it, associating things like sex, drugs, alcohol and partying as strictly on-the-road experiences. He has rejected the typical work- and family-oriented lifestyle so much to the extent that he feels restricted in even the remotest settings of it. Thus he consistently aims to leave his settled-down life behind, opting to hide behind the “tranquillizing, morally soothing” (Dostoyevsky 9) wall that the road is the place to be.

            The last of Dostoyevsky’s key arguments, that the journey matters more than the destination, rings true throughout the novel as well - Dean and Sal keep heading off with a final destination in mind, but don’t worry about how they get there because the journey and the ‘during’ aspect of their life on the road is what keeps them alive. As Sal succinctly says upon arriving in Denver without a clue what their next step was, it was “no matter, the road is life” (Kerouac 200). In fact, both are stricken by depression or restlessness once they actually reach their destination; as Dostoyevsky theorized about human nature in general, people are afraid to finally reach their final goal because it means the end of the excitement and danger they all crave. After weeks and months of partying and living recklessly, Dean and Sal constantly return home to dissatisfying normalcy –the moments on the road are what truly define them as people and encourage personal growth through observing the world around them and searching for the meaning of life. In fact, traveling everywhere and then returning home or reaching their final destination has been so disappointing to the point that, in the Part IV of the novel, Dean and Sal even try to find answers about life in Mexico, a different country entirely. While Sal eventually matures and readjusts to ‘normal’ living by the end of the novel, he spends much of its entirety with Dean as they focus on the road life itself, rather than the destination.

            Sal’s thoughts as he is on the road, as exemplified by his musing “…why think about that when all the golden lands ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you’re alive to see?” (Kerouac 126), embody many of Dostoyevsky’s theories about human nature as presented in his novel Notes from the Underground. The mention of unpredictable events waiting to surprise references not only Dean and Sal’s, but also the entire Beat Generation’s, search for the meaning of life and how to live vicariously. This desire to stretch beyond society’s norm of structure and ordered life parallels Dostoyevsky’s argument of the walls that exist to limit humans as soon as another one is broken. Man is also self-interested, but does not always follow rationale –while Dean and Sal travel together because both find an advantage in the other for doing so, they are already defying logic by even being on the road without backup plans and without a worry, partying all their money away. The closing lines of the novel, in which Sal bids goodbye to Dean, reference Sal’s new maturity from his time on the road. And while Sal has discovered who he is and how to be content with a normal life, Dean is still forever limited by his wall that being on the road is the only source of happiness.

Citations

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin, 1991. Print.

Final Paper

            On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, is a novel that tells the story of aimless teenagers who choose to live in the moment rather than focus on the future.  In today’s society we are all focused on the future and the past, whether we are stressing about that future test that is upcoming, or a past mistake that may come and bite us in the butt.  While living like this can help keep us on top of our daily struggles, it can also cause unnecessary stress, which can lead to more severe health problems.  This novel features a group of young adults and teenagers who have thrown aside society’s norms, and are focused on solely living in the moment in order to evade the stresses of their former lives and find a new way to enjoy life carefree.

            While reading through Dostoyevsky’s, Notes from the Underground, there were some noticeably interesting parallels between the themes and ideas expressed in Notes, and the actions and thought processes behind the characters featured in On the Road.  A major theme that was clearly exemplified in On the Road is the belief that human decisions cannot be mathematically calculated.  This is evident in Sal’s lack of regard for personal safety and care while on his journey around the country.  While travelling, people look out for themselves and make sure that money isn’t an issue.  There isn’t anything much worse than being stuck in a foreign area without the means to food and clothe oneself.  Sal runs into this problem more than once.  If humans were calculable, this wouldn’t be an issue.  “Mañana, said Rickey.  Mañana, man, we make it; have another beer, man, dah you go, dah you go!” (Kerouac 93.6).  In this line, Sal’s lack of interest in earning money for himself shows a blatant disregard for himself, which goes against the notion of humans acting rationally and predictably.  “None of us knew what was going on, or what the Good Lord appointed.” (93.36-37).  Sal has no plan in his life, and to act rationally a plan is needed in order to accomplish tasks.  This constant predicament of running out of money, gas, food, and shelter follows Sal and his gang of friends throughout the entire novel.  Dostoyevsky argues against the scientists of his day who argued that there is some sort of formula or algorithm that can predict how humans behave.  Kerouac agreed with Dostoyevsky in the idea that humans act in whichever way they want, and in many cases this ends up being illogical and irrational.  Just like when humans are tired or emotional, logical reasoning flies right out the window.  The entire idea of riding around with an ex-con lunatic, doing drugs, getting into fights, sleeping in parked cars, and living life on the edge isn’t logical or rational.  Another interesting point that is noticeable in On the Road, and is mentioned in Notes from the Underground is a subtle wish to return to normalcy, or society’s view of normalcy after a crazy adventure.  Every once in a while, after weeks of acting crazy, Sal will attempt to try and live normally, he will retain a job try and get a steady girlfriend and care for himself, but his plans fail because he is always drawn to the craziness of being on the road.  Everyone has an innate sense to be wild and irrational, some are better at hiding those desires than others.                  

            A constant theory that is referenced throughout the entire story of Notes from the Underground is the concept that there are these great “walls” that exist in our, and most likely every society that exists in this universe.  These walls stem from the fact that humans as a species do not have all the answers to the big questions.  Where we came from, how the universe came into existence, is there life beyond the stars, does a god exist, is life after death real; these are all questions we cannot answer.  To dwell on these thoughts can be terrifying, so in order to avoid trying to answer the impossible walls are drawn up to secure our thoughts and provide a feeling of warmth and comfort where there is none.  Walls can be anything from the idea of religion and life after death, to the ideas of societal norms.  Nobody knows the truth, so in order to provide a sense of the truth, walls are created.  Sal has lived his entire life in mainstream society.  He has put up with society’s wishes and desires and has confined himself to the customs that go along with living among others.  In On the Road, Sal repents society and wishes to follow his own path.  He destroys the walls of maintaining regular church attendance and family to enjoy himself and live life in the moment free from responsibility.

            Sal mentions at the very beginning “that everything is dead” (1.4).  He starts off the novel by acknowledging the fact that his life in mainstream society was getting to the point where he developed serious depression.  His solution is to try and remove himself from society and take his chances on the road.  He teams up with Dean, probably one of the most unlikeable characters considering his indifferent attitude towards Sal throughout the story.  Dean is always leaving Sal behind, never waiting for him to catch up.  According to most people, friends must be chosen wisely because they define who you are as a person.  Who you associate with often displays your interests and tendencies as a human being.  Sal backs away from this idea or wall, and recreates what societal norms and shapes them to his liking.  Rather than be caught up trying to make a way in a career or build up a contact network to support his family, he chooses to befriend a crazy, juvenile delinquent who will offer him a crazy experience over a safe lifestyle.  “This is all far back, when Dean was not the way he is today, when he was a young jail kid shrouded in mystery” (1.17-18).  Dean is not your typical friend.  By throwing away his old life with his wife and a steady job, and embracing new, crazy friends with a hippie like lifestyle, he demonstrates his frustrations with society’s walls.  Sal has created for himself his own wall, a life on the road with no responsibilities or worries.  

            In Notes from the Underground, the Underground Man makes references to the concept that humans feel the need to be validated.  People will do whatever it takes to be validated whether it is by demanding attention, bragging about oneself, or picking fights with everyone, they are all intended to bring upon the same goal.  The Underground Man feels compelled to validate himself when he has the multiple confrontations with the officer.  “ I was standing by the billiard-table and in my ignorance blocking up the way, and he wanted to pass; he took me by the shoulders and without a word-without a warning or explanation-moved me from where I was standing to another spot and passed by as though he had not noticed me.  I could have forgiven blows, but I could not forgive his having moved me without noticing me.” (34.1-6).  This anger he feels is towards the fact his existence hadn’t been validated.  He was treated like he didn’t even exist, denying validity to his presence in the world.  His anger is expressed in the next line, “Devil knows what I would have given for a real regular quarrel-a more decent, a more literary one…” (34.7-8).

 Sal has a similar struggle within his plotline in On the Road, although his validity crisis is less about being angry and more about living his life to the fullest.  In the beginning of the novel, Sal remarks about his old life in New York City with his ex-wife was so horrible, it wasn’t even worth mentioning to the reader.  He had felt dead inside, and needed to escape from that lifestyle and try something new.  His friends seemed dull and boring, and the thought of his wife and their apartment bogged him down every day.  These feelings stem from the fact that he was not validated.  Nobody cared about what he thought or felt, it seems as though his wife saw him as a means to money and not much else.  By simply viewing Sal as an object in her way, she was treating him very similarly to the way the officer saw the Underground Man.  Sal needing to validate himself and live his life, teamed up with a man who actually appreciated Sal’s smarts and enjoyed his presence.  Dean fills that void in his life, and makes Sal feel alive and actually happy for the first time in years.  People who are different and exciting make life interesting and more fulfilling.  Sal’s view of Dean is definitely positive, as it is evident in this quote, “My first impression of Dean was of a young Gene Autry-trim, thin-hipped, Blue-eyed, with a real Oklahoma accent-a sideburned hero of the snowy West.” (2.25-28).  Dean reinvigorates Sal’s life, and validates his existence by including him on a great journey around the country.

            The Underground Man in Notes from the Underground takes notice of the idea that the journey in life is more important and cherished or appreciated than the destination.  Often people already know or have experienced the destination and it is the way in which they get there that they experience exciting and trying times.  “But the reason why he wants sometimes to go off at a tangent may just be that he is predestined to make the road, and perhaps, too, that however stupid the “direct” practical man may be, the thought sometimes will occur to him that the road does seem to lead somewhere, and that the destination it leads to is less important than the process of making it…” (22.18-22).  Dostoyevsky mentions that it is not always the destination that matters most for an individual.  It is the path taken to reach that destination, the decisions, friends, and knowledge gained along the way that overshadows the end of the journey.  On the Road seems to be a novel that is written around this entire idea, that the road contains all the happiness and fun of a lifetime, while the destinations are only a means to get back on the road again and again.      

The main theme that is presented in On the Road is the idea that the journey is more important than the destination of that journey.  This concept confused me at first because with modern technology, planes in particular, the journey aren’t really all that important or exciting.  The clearest connection to this theme is the idea of hiking.  The fact that one will end up back at base camp isn’t really the point of the trek, it is the views, the emotions, and exciting moments that are experienced along the way that make hiking such a wonderful activity.  In On the Road, the journey is what matters most to Sal.  He often makes it to his destination and becomes bored, desperate to get back “on the road” again.  The reason his trip lasts so long is his love of the journey, not his love for reaching destination he has already been to five times in a row.  The first time that the journey is evidently more important than the destination is when he goes to San Francisco.  On his way there he loves everything about his trip, the hitchhiking, the people he meets, and the idea of meeting his friend in a city he has never seen before.  His imagination of the future experience with Remi runs wilder than his actual brief stay with Remi.  He realizes that staying in a city requires him to work odd jobs, and ultimately tears apart his relationship with Remi by getting in-between his friend and his wife.  Also, why would Sal have missed the fact that his trip was over.  

At the end, he finally gets back to New York City after having travelled on the road for over a year.  Yet he misses Dean and the road mentality associated with him.  Dean represents the unknown and curiosity that is brought upon by travelling across foreign fields with no real end in sight.  This journey helped put Sal’s life back together and helped him to learn to live a life of happiness filled with desire, curiosity, and love.  Sal's experiences while on the road, and the decisions that led him to giving up his former life and moving on go hand in hand with many of the ideas behind human behavior and the human conscious that the Underground Man presents.  Whether it is the idea of needing to be validated, or enjoying the journey more than the destination, similarities exist between the two in almost every chapter of both stories.  

Works Cited

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin, 1991. Print.        

  

term paper part 3

            Another example of untraditional form of church in On the Road comes along with Dean Moriarty. One of the ways Dean finds spirituality, or anything remotely close to a religion for that matter, is through sex. As can be seen in this quote, “Dean had dispatched the occupant of the apartment to the kitchen, probably to make coffee, while he proceeded with his love problems, for to him sex was the one and only holy and important thing in life, although he had to sweat and curse to make a living and so on,” (Part 1, Ch. 1, P. 4) Dean prioritizes sex above everything else. In other words, his moral code and everyday choices revolve around sex.

            In Dean’s particular situation, his religious pillar dictates essentially that he must seek sex perpetually. In consequence, this contradicts the state and family pillars. Dean at one point has multiple wives, which in the United States is illegal. Furthermore, despite the fact that socially it is frowned upon to have mistresses, it is not illegal and thus technically pillars do not contradict in that respect. The technicality of it comes in the moment Dean obtains multiple wives, putting Kafka’s theory into play with respect to the state pillar. As for the family pillar, which is constituted by friends in Dean’s case, Dean constantly ditches his friends (and thus his family) for sex. As a result, the family and church pillar’s interests gainsay.

            Subsequently, the family pillar also makes its presence felt in “On the Road”. The traditional definition of family is: a group of people related to one another by blood or marriage. Of course On the Road, being the epitome of the Beat Generation, cannot be analyzed in a traditional sense. In On the Road, a family can be taken to be any group of people who spend an inordinate amount of time with one another for the pleasure of their company. As a result, with the relationship Dean and Sal have they could be considered family. Other examples of family include Terry and Remi Boncoeur, whom Sal lived with for some time. The tangible differences in the traditional definition of family and the modern version established by the Beat Generation is a perfect example of how the Beat Generation has shifted and affected Kafka’s pillars.

            The contradictive aspect of Kafka’s family pillar in On the Road is most visible when Sal is with Terry and Remi. With Terry, Sal’s feelings were incredibly strong, to the point where he was even compelled to establish a traditional family with her. In the end, the road called to him, and thus church and family conflicted. Sal’s natural tendency to go and be on the road as part of the Beat Generation overpowered his feelings for Terry which were pulling his very being into a more traditional state.

Final Term Paper

Ciara Keane

Period 5

Women in On the Road

Term Paper

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.

Much like Camille, Dean has no respect for Marylou, treating her like a disposable, emotionless pleasure toy that he only calls upon when times are convenient; naturally, he has no problem being unfaithful to her.  At one p.m. sharp, he would rush from “Marylou to Camille, of course neither of the knowing what was going on.”  While he was still married to Marylou, he would have sex with her and head over to Camille’s to have sex with her immediately after.  He showed no sense of remorse or guilt concerning the fact that he would express his affection for his wife through the ultimate act of love, only to turn around and have sex with another woman only hours after.  He took advantage of both of them, making sure he got his daily dose of sex from each, disregarding the idea of faithfulness.  When Sal is describing the situation, he says that Dean is “going to get the necessary papers for their divorce.  Marylou’s all for it, but she insists on banging in the interim”.  This explanation makes Marylou seem desperate and senseless; it makes it seem like she asks for this treatment; like she is to blame for Dean’s solely sex-based relationship with Marylou.  Maybe Marylou thought that she could win Dean back by providing him with consistent sexual opportunity, but naturally, Sal and Dean’s phallocentric lens only allows them to see that Marylou is an unintelligent slut without standards or morals.  Dean even takes his objectification of Marylou so far that he asked Sal to sleep with her so he could “see what Marylou was like with another man”.  Not only does he not mind his wife having sex with another man; he offers her up to Sal like she is his possession to give.  Though Sal denies the request, they never discuss Marylou’s opinion in this because in their eyes, she has no say.

            Dean’s values become apparent through the way he treats Marylou.  After he broke up with her once, he realized he wanted her back, but knew she wanted nothing to do with him.  Therefore, he “wanted absolute proof that she was a whore” so he could provide himself with an excuse for why he didn’t need her, and why he shouldn’t want her back.  He tarnishes her name, manifesting lies so as to make himself feel better about the irreparable mistakes he has made.  “For to him, sex was the one and only holy and important thing in life”, so worrying about how the things he said and did affected Marylou was not a priority, or even a matter of consideration.  Dean’s head is crowded nyphomanic thoughts; however, men like Dean seemed to think this was a legitimate excuse for the wrongs they did onto women, when that is all it really was: an excuse.

When he was with Marylou, the way he spoke to her was reflective of what he considered her to be.  When he was attempting to decide his next move, “he decided the thing to do was to have Marylou make breakfast and sweep the floor”. It is the small details that speak the loudest: he didn’t ask her to do these errands, he was going to ‘have her’ do it. She was nothing more than a vehicle of convenience; an always-available means to fulfill his physical needs.

Marylou’s objectification was not solely shaped by Dean’s actions; Sal’s behavior and mindset had a large part in the injustice as well. Even in Sal’s initial description, the reader can see that Sal’s image of her is almost solely based on her aesthetics.  He depicts her as “a pretty blonde with immense ringlets of hair like a sea of golden tresses”, explaining, “outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb.”  Given these descriptions, it becomes evident that the reason for both Dean and Sal’s interest in Marylou stems from their adoration of her physical beauty, not any beauty or goodness they found within her character or personality.  She is a source of sexual pleasure and, in essence, a treat for them to observe as they attempt to quell their incessant hormones. Not once is Marylou’s mind addressed, in regards to her possessing any kind of intellect or thought besides sexual desire.  When Sal sees Marylou again after her and Dean split, he says: “Marylou had not slept since Denver.  I thought she looked older and more beautiful now”.  Though this might be taken as a compliment, Sal’s comment further enforces the fact that Marylou is merely a source of “eye candy” to Sal and the rest of the men in the novel.  The first person point of view of On the Road allows the reader to receive valuable insight into the way beatnik men perceived women during this time period.  Sal’s descriptions and references towards Mary Lou provide evidence for the idea that women were seen and used as nothing more than a source of physical pleasure.

Similarly to Sal’s descriptions of Marylou, the diction used to depict Terry was just as visually oriented.  She is said to have had “breasts that stuck out straight and true”, with “flanks that looked delicious” and hair that was “long and lustrous black”.  These foundations are the most vivacious descriptions we get of Terry throughout her short relationship with Sal, and well as the first descriptions we get of her.  Of course, it is foolish not to consider the fact that relationships usually begin based on an attraction between two people; however, Sal’s observations regarding Marylou are limited, besides the ones describing her physical appearance.  It is not only this specific relationship; every relationship in the novel seems to be mostly, if not purely, superficial, which would explain the unlucky nature of the relationships that both Dean and Sal experience.

About half way through the book, we are introduced to Walter’s wife, a character who is only spoken about for two pages at most, but her presence and the meaning of her inclusion made a lasting impact on me and my understanding of the beatnik generation.  Walter’s wife is described by Sal as “the Sweetest Woman in the World”, because “she never asked Walter where he’d been, what time it was, nothing”.  In other words, Walter was so lucky because he had a wife who wouldn’t question him when he was never around for their family, when would have affairs with other women, or when he was not acting as a source of support and stability: all questions a wife can and should be able to ask.  “Now, you see man, here’s real woman for you. Never a harsh word, never a complaint, or modified; her old man can come in any hour of the night with anybody and have talks in the kitchen and drink the beer and leave any old time”, says Dean, providing a clear image of Dean’s view of the perfect relationship.  Dean doesn’t understand that a real woman would be one who worked hard to do her part in a relationship, and made sure that her partner was doing the same.  A real woman would not put up with a poisonous, uncaring man who kept her around for convenience and treated her with no respect.  “This is a man, and that is his castle”, says Dean as he observes the relationship between Walter and his wife, and the desired marital relationships of this time period could not become clearer than with this epigram.  Dean does not desire a marriage in the way we view them now: a source of mutual support, love, and respect.  Dean does not want a mutual relationship; he wants a submissive relationship, where he can do whatever he wants, even if that includes not being unfaithful.  To Dean and the rest of the beats, a good woman is a woman with no self-respect, and this is the woman they see in Walter’s wife.

Many have said that Kerouac’s On the Road made a lasting impression on their lives, as it was a defining piece of literature that characterized the emotions and proceedings of the lives of the beatniks.  I would have to agree with this assertion, however for a different reason.  Reading On the Road made me realize how far women have progressed in society to get where we are today, and how far we still have to go.  Modern relationships are more mutual now, based on equality and respect between the two people involved; however, there is still more that can be done until we can truly say that men and women are equal.  On the Road is still full of literary merit, and we have so much to learn from the past.

Citations

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Viking Press, Inc., 1957. Print.

Sungkar, Najwa. "Women Objectification in The Novel "On The Road" by Jack

            Kerouac." Attraversiamo. N.p., 7 Nov. 2010. Web. 4 May 2014.<http://najwasungkaracademic.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/women-objectification-in-the-novel-“on-the-road”-by-jack-kerouac/>.