Jack Kerouac's On The Road: Dreams Of A Better Destiny

On the Road: Dreams of a Better Destiny The beat generation was a post World War 2 literary movement that emphasized non conformist and anti establishment beliefs The literary movement was mostly underground and frowned upon by general society, but select authors broke the barrier and published famous novels. These works include William Burrough’s Naked Lunch, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. It was widely believed that Kerouac wrote On the Road as an autobiography with each character representing someone in his life. The main character Sal Paradise, an insecure follower, is based on Kerouac himself. The growth Sal Paradise experiences in the novel is what Kerouac wanted for himself, but could never achieve. Jack Kerouac

Because Kerouac never publicly stated any sort of his mental illnesses, it is unknown what he might have been diagnosed with. It has been assumed that he was severely depressed and a serious alcoholic. The marines also described the reason for dismissing him as “patient believes he quit football for same reason he couldn't get along in Navy, he can't stand regulations” (National Archives). This description fits well with the Beat Generation. After leaving the marines Kerouac moved back to New York City, began his writing, and started meeting future famous beat writers and friends. This is where On the Road picks up in Kerouac’s

Dean particularly is the “hero-prince of all Beat people, a 'madman angel and bum' out to con the North American nightmare of a chance for his soul to live” (Tallman). Dean Moriarty resembles Kerouac’s friend and fellow beat writer, Neal Cassady while Carlo Marx is based on Allen Ginsberg, a close friend of Kerouac’s. Sal spent a night listening to Dean and Carlo talk without offering anything because he felt, “I was a lout compared, I couldn’t keep up with them” (Kerouac, 5). Kerouac and Sal are both very insecure in their intelligence, they feel the need to follow others and do as they do because he did not believe he was as good as anyone else leaving him to spectate life around him instead of ever living it. Sal is invited to come to San Francisco to visit his friend Remi Boncoeur and he takes off as a hitchhiker to get to California, “The greatest ride in my life was about to come up” (Kerouac, 21). The journey to San Francisco was only the beginning as Sal would eventually travel to Denver, Washington, and Mexico with a changing set of friends. Dean is a common companion during these travels and Sal said, “We were both exhausted and dirty” (Kerouac, 201). The stories of his travels are autobiographical of Kerouac’s real