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Song Of The Open Road Symbolism Essay

1313 Words6 Pages

The road can have many different meanings and symbolize an array of philosophical and theoretical meanings. For some it is merely a connection from one place to another, and to others the meaning is deeper and more profound. For those who find a deeper connection and a spiritual tone the road find it symbolizes things such as hope, despair, life, and death. Films, books, and other media sources use “the american road” to adhere to what the author or director believes explains the meaning of life, or at least tell a story in which hope and despair accompany each other like light and dark. This idea is evident in the two films On the Road and Grapes of Wrath. There are many differences and similarities between On the Road and Grapes of Wrath, but there is an …show more content…

Whitman’s poem states: “I will scatter myself among men and women as I go, / I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them…” and “Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear it would not amaze me, / Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear’d it would not astonish me.”, which describes open Dean’s sexuality with men and women who he meets on the road. His temperament is what also differs from the other characters; Dean cheats on his wife multiple times, he’s a constant nomad who is unable to settle in one place or with one woman. In Mortenson’s article “Beating Time: Configurations of Temporality in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road”, he describes, “Dean is frenetically living in the moment, trying to stay within the ever-unfolding horizon of the ‘now’....Dean accepts the belief that life must be lived in the present and practices this knowledge by filling each of these moments with as much activity as possible…” (p. 56). Although Dean’s perception of life is to live on the edge, nomadic and ever changing, he has no regard for the feelings of others. Even as his friend, Sal, lies dying with a fever in Mexico, he abandons

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