Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Kerouac skips more than a year between parts 1 and 2, and begins part 2 when Dean meets with Sal again at in Virginia and they decide to go on the road again. I find it interesting that Sal only travels when Dean is there to make him. Sal even says that the bug that causes him to go on the road. This shows how Sal is simply a follower. He admits that he has no reason to go along with Dean. He is even reluctant to follow Dean's lifestyle because he talks of settling down with a wife rather than having "franticness" in his life. However, Sal is hypocritical is saying this because he still has a spontaneous, impulsive lifestyle. His rather abrupt relationship with Terry also goes against his idea of having a wife.
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I agree, I feel like there is only a story when Dean has been there to ignite Sal's wild side. The first sentence of the book had to do with Dean and part I ended with Dean, and Kerouac began part II with Dean (see a trend?). I can also agree that Sal is a follower, it seems as though Dean is a whirlwind of energy and chaos and he sucks Sal in. Lucille notices that Dean's reckless lifestyle of simply partying and sleeping with multiple women brushes off on Sal and it angers her. Sal's relationship with his possible wife-to-be basically ends because he tries to imitate and follow Dean. I feel that even though Sal may be high on life (as well as other things) when he's with Dean, living the moment, his relationship with him is destructive to his own life by ruining his dreams of ever wanting to settle down with a wife, by going to wild parties to get broke and get saved by his aunt time after time. By hanging out with Dean, Sal is more irresponsible and less mature.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface Dean is a completely negative influence on Sal. When Sal is away from Dean is when we see his true characteristics. For example he tries to create a working relationship through trying to love Terry and working to make money. This relationship doesn't work and Sal heads East, where he met Dean and he becomes a completely different person then he was with Terry. He takes advantage of a girl on the bus, takes advantage of a traveling salesman, and then he goes to his aunt for relief. If Sal could just leave his entire past behind him and start out new maybe he could establish himself as a member of society.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothered me about this reading was that, at first Sal seemed to be so "in love" with Terry, or at least infatuated with her. Once things do not workout he just heads east. When he leaves Terry and gets on the bus to Pittsburgh, he seems to move on rather quickly with the nearsighted girl, who buys him lunch. i feel as if Sal is "two-faced" in a way because, agreeing with ben, Sal's personality tends to differ depending on who he is with.
ReplyDeleteIn sals journey to the west his tone was much more energetic and exuberant, but now, on his voyage back east his tone has matured, it is slower, and its more dismal.
I totally agree with Maya, and I now want to say "I told you so" to Jeremy and Ms. Siegel. So there! I knew all he wanted was sex, and he just threw her aside when he was done.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, he needed the "reset" button that someone said in class (can't remember who). He goes back to his aunt's house after a very long and arduous trek back east and resupplies himself. His aunt also bails him out after his speeding ticket.