Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I think that it's fitting how the title of the book is On The Road because Sal seems unable to stay in one place for more than a few weeks. He is always moving around, and he goes all over the country searching for something. Perhaps he is running from something, maybe his responsibility, or what would be his responsibilities, if he settles down in one place with a wife and child. I think that Sal so desperately wants to be Dean, to act like Dean, that he's afraid that if he settles down he might never be able to be like Dean, a role-model-ish kind of person. It's also intersting that even though he says that he liked Terry, and loved her, he found another girl on the bus on the way back to New York, and he claimed he liked her, but left her unmentioned. Sal at first did not seem like a womanizer, but since he is trying to be like Dean, that he is trying, though that does not seem to be his personality, to almost force himself to be like Dean.
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I don't think Dean has really led Sal to become a womanizer. Sal actually got to know Lucille really well, and after a while, he realized that Lucille would make a great wife for him. Ed Dunkel, on the other hand, is completely obsessed with emulating Dean. Ed was willing to marry Galatea just so he and Dean could afford a trip to visit Sal. And once Galatea ran out of money, Ed abandoned her without feeling the least bit remorseful - just as Dean told him to. On a side note, I don't think Ed should feel bad about abandoning Galatea. She more or less forced him to marry her because of her money. And with her incessant whining she proved to be a huge burden, and Ed and Dean did the right thing by abandoning her when she was no longer needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with reine, sal has become more or a womanizer but not to the extent that dean is. I also found it strange that marriage doesnt seem to have much of an effect on the characters. I say this because Dean is constantly in between marriages, Camille and Marylou and he couldnt care less about the woman he wasnt with. Although he is legally married to camille he forgets about her and continues to have sex with Marylou. Also i found it strange that Sal would have an affair with Marylou even though she is Dean's girl and that would be wrong. This also shows another example of Sal just forgetting about Dean when he finds a cute girl.
ReplyDeleteI agree, partially, with what Walter said, about how Sal doesn't describe the road. Whenever he does mention it, it is in a general sense, calling it "gray" and saying that it "fades into the darkness". Even though he's so eager to be on the road, he doesn't describe it in detail or in a way that doesn't make it seem to be a dark and lonely place.
ReplyDeleteHe also depends greatly on other people. He depends on his aunt for money, he depends on people to pick him up off the road and give him rides when he's hitchhiking, he depends on Dean to get him moving again.
I thought it was interesting how Kerouac described Dean, that "this was the new and complete Dean, grown to maturity" (113). Dean was trying to take control of his life,and finally settle down. This new side of Dean is strange, but brings me to a new thought. Sal seems (if this makes any sense) to be like an iguana. He changes personalities to accommodate to others' personalities, whether it be Dean or Terry. Sal can change to any personality he desires, but like an iguana he cannot stay that way once he leaves the vicinity of the object, or person in Sal's case. Sal has his one true characteristic, like an iguana is truly its green color, but can alter based on the environment he is in.
ReplyDeleteI found that this section is very representative of the beats. The idea of the first thought/best thought is seen a lot, and also the idea Kerouac has of scribbling everything down. This is seen on pg. 127 where there is variety of sentence types and punctuation. Also there are some lines that just sound weird. I also thought this section showed how Sal and Dean are going nowhere in their life. Ed Dunkel asks them why they are traveling, and they can't come up with a response. Old Bull Lee is also another interesting character. I thought it was weird how he said that he liked a painting because it was ugly, but that just the way his life was Sal said.
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