Suffering In Kerouac's On The Road

Thesis:
We are constantly suffering and enjoying life on an almost daily basis. Sometimes, life could seem to be a real challenge, a real enemy, due to its downbeat features. On the other hand, there are also a handful of positive and joyful elements of life. In “On the Road”, Kerouac suggests that suffering is what makes one realize the meaning of life and thus, one must experience the negative aspects and harsh times in life, being beaten down, in order to appreciate every single moment of the present (here and now) in order to then reach the beatific aspect of life. He illustrates this statement by using examples of the Fellaheen people, the importance of seizing the moment and through the usage of the words “beaten down” and “beatific”

In the first part of the novel, for instance, Kerouac claims that he “looked up at the dark sky and prayed God for a better break in life and a better chance to do something for the little people he loved. Nobody was paying any attention to him up there. He should have known better.” (89, Kerouac). Sal is constantly looking for money and is often starving. As a result, he has to ask his aunt for money and hitchhike in order to continue his journey. He doesn’t want to work at all, but admires how the Fellaheen people, the farmers, approach life. In other words, Sal is beaten down because he lacks resources to travel. In the third part of the novel, when Dean Moriarty meets Sal again, he is going through a pretty difficult time and says: “And yet-and yet, I’ve never felt better and finer and happier with the world and to see lovely little children playing in the sun and I am so glad to see you, my fine gone wonderful Sal, and I know, I know everything will be all right.” (175). Dean is now beaten down, due to the enormous workload he has to complete in order to support his family. Despite of all of these negative elements, he finds the beatific vision of life; he is optimist and knows that sooner or later, the situation will get better. He always finds things that motivate and encourage him to be happy. A bit further in the

Sal expresses his feelings about living life to the present when he meets Terry, a young Mexican girl. He is fascinated by her as time goes on and narrates: “Then, two tired angels of some kind, hung-up forlornly in an LA shelf, having found the closest and most delicious thing in life together, we fell asleep and slept till late afternoon.” (78). She makes him feel good enough to achieve the beatific. Sal speaks as if he found the love of his life. Even though he first found her uninteresting, Sal develops affection towards her and learns more and more about her with time. As well, Kerouac bring the notion of time back, when he claims that: “We were all delighted, we all realized we were leaving confusion and nonsense behind and performing our one and noble function of the time, move.” (125). The notion of time is here discussed and understood by the characters. They know that they can’t stop time so all they can do is to appreciate every moment of the here and now and explore as many places as possible. This is why they go On the Road and move from one place to another. Towards the end of the story, Sal and Dean go on a trip to Mexico City and finds the beatific life out there. They are amazed by how Mexicans only live "day by day" (mañana). They are always thinking that "Tomorrow will be better". In fact, Sal says: “This was