Megan Garrad
How the Road Turns:
A Look at the Factors Contributing to Kerouac’s Writing
The “Beat Generation” of post-war America is characterized as a society full of young “beats” a term here “meaning down and out, or poor and exhausted.” (RetroGalaxy Culture) The man credited with the beginning of and is generally thought to typify the beat culture, is the author Jack Kerouac. Kerouac’s classic beat novel, On the Road, follows Kerouac’s alter ego, Sal Paradise on a rugged journey with the goals of arriving in California and discovering himself. Kerouac kept a journal before starting On the Road and it was later published. The candid struggles Kerouac expresses in his journal are also laced throughout the novel. But, how much of Sal Paradise contains Jack Kerouac? There are some incongruities. Type of existence, social influences, and cultural qualities, are all factors that dictate the thoughts and actions of Jack Kerouac and main character Sal Paradise.
The plane of reality that Paradise and Kerouac exist in greatly contributes to their approach to their worlds. Sal Paradise is an idyllic beat. Created to portray Kerouac’s definition of the beat community, Paradise is Kerouac, but as an idealized model. Paradise’s desires and identity confusion echo Kerouac’s own, but without all the deviations. Since Paradise remains a puppet to Kerouac’s intentions, Paradise’s own
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existence cannot mimic Kerouac’s exactly. Their personalities hold some similarities. For one, they share an appreciation for those leading a simple life. Paradise enters a diner “I heard a great laugh, the greatest laugh in the world, and here came this rawhide oldtimer Nebraska farmer…” (Kerouac “On”) This encounter shows his admiration of a man who has quaint ambitions. Kerouac likewise watches a man working the card table in a saloon and conveys “…the asthmatic, laborious sadness of such men. I could not take my eyes off him.” (Kerouac “Almost”) His respect for the man and those like him follows Sal’s observations. Kerouac and Paradise also lust after a rugged life. Paradise’s thoughts one farmer is, “I wish I knew his whole raw life and what the hell he’d been doing all these years besides laughing and yelling like that.” (Kerouac “On”) Kerouac also expresses regret at lost chances for the simple existence, by exhibiting disdain for the return to the structured and monotonous East. “The trip across sunny, flat Minnesota was uneventful. How dull it was to be in the East again: no more raw hopes; all was satisfied here.” (Kerouac “Almost”) Kerouac and Sal both exhibit analogous attitudes. The disparity is that Kerouac’s shortcomings on being a beatnik cannot be overlooked. Kerouac’s may have formed the beat generation, but Paradise, as Kerouac’s product, is the only one to able to come close to exemplifying it. This differentiation constitutes a blatant divergence between Kerouac and Paradise’s responses to their environments and situation.
The beat community was impacted by the Great Depression, World War II’s violence and destruction, America’s “lost” generation, late 40’s radicalism, and the introduction of unconventional ideas by post-war philosophers. Kerouac certainly felt the
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disillusionment of a society that was responsible for such a turbulent era. These feelings are reflected on Sal Paradise. Kerouac’s formation of Paradise endows him with the beat community’s sense of societal ideals. Both Kerouac and Paradise are on a journey to escape the East and realize themselves in a rustic landscape. Their flee from a society of order, overindulgence, and unsympathetic actions lend insinuations about Kerouac’s unhappiness with the eastern lifestyle. Kerouac is amazed at the hospitality and friendliness of the Midwest. He watches as neighbor helps neighbor traverse the road in a terrible snowstorm and comments, “Where in the effete-thinking East would men work for others for nothing, at midnight in howling, freezing gales?” (Kerouac “Almost”) Paradise also admires neighborly affection. Sal observes an old farmer come into a local diner and states, “He didn’t have a care in me world and had the hugest regard for everybody.” Paradise respected the politeness and affability of this Midwestern farmer, contributing to his preference of the West to the East. Also, Kerouac and Paradise follow the beat tendency of evading work whenever possible. Kerouac even envies those who are incapable of work, “A boy of twenty, with one arm missing… how beautiful it was because he was unable to work.” (Kerouac “Almost”) Kerouac glorifies an exception from work. Paradise avoids any long-term occupation. When confronted by a carnival manager to work the roulette table, Sal is hesitant and responds “I don’t know, I’m going as fast as I can and I don’t think I have the time.” Paradise fits the description of a beat “drifter”. The beat community was also known for its drifter members. (RetroGlaxay Culture) The drifters were people moving from place to place without a real destination.
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Paradise is a drifter and when asked, ““You boys going to get somewhere, or just going?”” He immediately thinks, “We didn’t understand his question…” (Kerouac “On”) This illustrated Paradise’s disregard for traditional, sedentary lifestyles. Paradise’s approach to this uncertainty is nonchalant; Kerouac, on the other hand, routinely expresses anxiety about the future. A few days before the release of his new book Kerouac writes, “Will I be rich or poor? Will I be famous or forgotten? Am I ready for this with my “philosophy of simplicity?”” Kerouac’s deviates from beat culture here, by worrying about what is considered “eastern” ambitions. The turmoil and innovation of post-war America fueled the dissident culture of the beatniks. Kerouac and Paradise are both influenced by the new society of this era.
Kerouac and Paradise are products of the beat culture. The qualities surrounding a typical beat are often characterized by a carefree lifestyle, contempt of materialism and high ambition, and the acceptance of a simple, relaxed life. The personalities of Paradise and Kerouac often diverge on these traits. Paradise, as the epitome of beat culture, can easily ignore the loss of material objects. When a shirt is stolen from him, Paradise reacts with, “Well, alackaday, I kissed the shirt good-bye; it had only sentimental value in any case.” (Kerouac “On”) Paradise is able to often overlook things that Kerouac still dwells upon. Kerouac routinely expresses disgust for those who strive for material reward, yet he also speculates, “Will I be rich or poor?” (Kerouac “Almost”) This solidifies his deviation when it comes to modeling a beat. Kerouac also subjects himself to ambitious determination. He states, “It’s time for me to start working on On the Road in earnest.”
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(Kerouac “Almost”) Kerouac’s resolution to begin writing “in earnest” is a very ambitious goal; this is uncharacteristic of beat culture. Yet at other times Kerouac expresses a beatnik nature. When speaking to his publisher, “I told him there were “no laurel wreaths”…the poet did not find ecstasies in worldly fame, nor in fortune,…” (Kerouac “Almost”) Kerouac disapproves of artistic expression for a material prize. Kerouac also dreams of a life where he can “…do nothing but sit under a tree while my crops are growing, drink homemade wine…and thumb my nose at the coughing wretches.” (Kerouac “Almost”) He desires a life of simplicity. Kerouac does hold the beatnik spirit after all. Paradise and Kerouac’s personalities are shaped by beatnik qualities.
Sal Paradise and Jack Kerouac become one another despite their differences. Paradise, because he is Kerouac's alter-ego, cannot be estranged from Kerouac's own biases, however because he epitomizes beatnik culture he is able to "think" and "act" in a way exclusively characteristic of the beat community. Therefore Paradise can and does assume a personality that varies from Kerouac's own. Kerouac on the other hand is shaped by real experiences and post-war society, coupled with his aspirations to lead a laid-back lifestyle. Type of existence, social influences, and cultural qualities, are all factors that dictate the thoughts and actions of Jack Kerouac and On the Road’s Sal Paradise and contribute to the believable and original quality of On the Road.
