Self-Discovery Theme in On the Road

A central and even dominant theme in Jack Kerouac's novel, On the Road, is the road trip as a symbolic and practical quest for identity -- a quest that occupies the lives of Sal Paradise (the narrator) and Dean Moriarty (the perpetual road tripper). As an influential member of the "Beat generation" of American writers, Kerouac used what appears to be a semi-autobiographical approach to his theme; Sal Paradise speaks in Kerouac's voice, while Dean Moriarty is said to be illustrative of Neal Cassidy, another Beat figure. This brief report will examine the road trips in the novel as manifestations of a search for self-identity and assess the success or failure of such trips. It will be argued that these trips from one ocean to another and one state of being to another are not fulfilling for Dean, whose fate seems to be linked to constant movement and new experiences.

Dean "is the perfect guy for the road because he was actually born on the road" (5). Having been born in transit, Dean spends his adolescent and adult life in transit from one place to another, one woman to another, and one grand vision of the world (and the possible) to another. Dean wants to know things -- things about Nietzsche, about women, about literature, music and about solving "love problems." For Sal Paradise, Dean is a wonderful object of contemplation; more significantly, Sal sees in Dean some of the enthusiasm and youthfulness that he has lost, and wants to share Dean's journey of self-disco

Related Essays

Jack Kerouac's On the Road .... a semi-autobiographical approach to his theme; Sal Paradise .... he was actually born on the road" (5). Having .... and wants to share Dean's journey of self-discovery. .... (1190 5 )

Death as a Theme in Theodore's Roethke's Poetry .... psychic, spiritual, and poetic journey into self-discovery (Balakian 51 .... the death of sanity, the self is finally .... a theory comports with the theme developing in .... (1706 7 )

Look Homeward, Angel .... A related theme is the meaning and form of artistic expression .... view of the author, as something that helps the writer himself on his road to self-discovery. .... (1570 6 )

Sophocles' Oedipus the King .... along the road to the completion of that theme and that .... he had the freedom to keep the discovery secret .... his own murder of his father and the self-punishment he .... (1488 6 )

Beat Generation .... vast industrialized wasteland was another unifying theme of the .... the way Kerouac had done in On The Road. .... and journey internally in the realm of self discovery. .... (2459 10 )

Category: Literature - S