Jack Kerouac On The Road Beat Generation Essay

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The purpose of this essay is to analyse the famous novel "On the Road" written by Jack Kerouac between 1948 and 1949. To understand him and his book is necessary to be aware of what Beat Generation is. The Beat Generation was a movement that persecuted a new perspective of thinking and originating new beliefs from that which were a taboo in the society. In the literary sphere, books with a more intimate freedom began to be published. It was after the World War II when these authors began to emerge and came to prominence in 1950´s. They were a cultural phenomenon that they documented and also inspired. This new wave was so important and impacted in the society due to his beliefs and values, which were the reaction to the Political Repression, racial intolerance, and conservatism of the 40´s and 50´s. The founders of the movement met at New York, some of them at Columbia University. They were, among others; Allen Ginsberg, who wrote Howl (1956); William S. Burroughs, the author of Naked Lunch (1959) and Jack Kerouac, who wrote On the Road (1957), and the one who introduced the phrase "Beat Generation". They started to be known as a "new bohemian hedonist", people who were well-educated and from the middle class. The main aim of this cultural movement was the intention to shake the foundations of American society. To do that, they questioned traditional values. In a growing capitalistic world, they were anti-materialistic and opposed industrial civilization. The experimentation