Response to Emily

I do believe that Sal is definitely trudging West in search of the the wild life. I also believe that he is doing so out of some dream that, in the end, shows him meeting people who can relate to him and take him in as one of their own. Sal might see this happening now with people like Dean but, I do believe that he is going to be let down soon because I think that most of the people that he is hanging out with are only using him as a means of letting their own personal feelings out. In other words, they are using him as a puppet and manipulating him to their will and Sal, ignorantly, follows most of what they say in order to fit in. Sadly, they will eventually lead him so far astray that he will no longer be able to return to the safe shores of the normal life that he once had. Instead, he will reach the result that he was trying to run away from, the end of a lonely man who has no one to comfort him in his hour of need.

Coming to Terms with Reality

There is a distinct similarity between On the Road and Kafka's story. The idea of a soul searching adventure is a very openly used theme in The Metamorphosis. Kafka writes about a man who wakes up to find that his boring and agitating life has become, although more annoying, a bit more exciting than usual since he has transformed into a giant bug. However, the message that the reader gets from this transfiguration, the fact that he is no longer useful at his job, and that his family has given up on him is that the harder you fight to get away from it all, the quicker you actually get to your wished destination. Evidently,  the wished destination concludes with the fastest and loneliest path towards death with no one to mourn your passing. Only those who think it is fit to celebrate once your gone are left. This realization in Kafka's story that is seen by readers is portrayed in On the Road as Sal walks through the same steps that the main character in Kafka's story did. So, since he sees his own life turning dull and stagnant, he is desperately trying to find an escape route out of this form of limbo that plagues his own life. Currently he has found a way to dodge the depressing lifestyle that will eventually lead to an unpleasant death. However, Sal is not entirely sure if the remedy is permanent. So, he is constantly on the move, running away from any form of commitment and responsibility that might fall on his shoulders if he stands still for too long.  I do believe that most males at this point in their lives tend to develop this idea that their lives are turning from exciting to boring because of the numerous issues that they have to take care of which leaves them with little to no time at all to keep up with youth. Therefore, they panic and think that they need to start doing reckless and fun things in order to keep their original color. This may suppress their feelings on the matter for some time but, eventually they will see that there is no escape from the inevitability of responsibility and will come to terms with the spots that they must fill in society, unhappily no doubt.

Response to Anike

Sal is obviously in love with what Dean represents. The freedom, the carelessness, the girl-to-girl bouncing, the happiness and simplicity of lifestyle. The problem with Sal is that he is unable to look past Dean’s outer shell and see him for what he truly is. Dean is a hippie with nothing going for him because whenever a good situation presents itself for Dean, he throws it away to chase a life on the road. Ever since Dean came back into Sal’s life, it seemed evident that Sal’s seemingly improving life was coming to yet another halt at Dean’s expenses. Lucille told Sal that she didn’t like him when he was around Dean and his other friends, and Old Bull told Sal that if he followed Dean to Frisco it would be the end of him, so obviously other people aren’t blind to Dean’s flaws like Sal is and they know that spending time around him only damages Sal. I see these remarks and comments as foreshadowing for something Dean will do that will really hurt Sal and make him completely rethink if Dean is the person he wants to follow. 

Philosophies and Kafka References

The mistreatment of the women is blatant in this book, but it has come to a point where the relationships and philosophies on being with someone from the opposite sex are just odd and very controversial. Leaving Camille in Frisco for his beloved Marylou was one thing, but when Dean asks Sal to have sex with Marylou to "see how she is with others" gives an awkward feeling to read. Another incident of the sort was when in New Years Marylou and Dean wanted to swing with Sal and Lucille, which, from one thing leading to another, basically broke Lucille and Sal up. This is an upset because Sal saw Lucille as a potential wife and he wanted to marry her, but now all those ideas are done with. From the events that have been happening with Marylou and Dean and the others I've gotten a sense that these characters don't believe in possession of another human. With that being said, this also comes with no real loyalty to another person, even if they love each other, how Dean and Marylou have shown. This helps explain why many of these characters don't have actual relationships and just bounce around from one partner to the next. They get what they want in the moment, they don't want to commit themselves and limit their sexual life to one partner. 

Pertaining to the ideals and philosophies of the characters, they can be characterized as hippies. As Dean has shown, he just goes along with what life brings him and makes the best out of everything and enjoys even the simplest moments. He “digs” everyone and rarely comes into conflict with another character, except for cops. In addition to Dean, Old Bull also has a similar mentality in which he thinks it is the institutions that are ruining all the people and the businesses like the bars. He says bureaucracies are detrimental to society. This can also be supported by the fact that he reads Kafka, and if he has understood some of the central messages of Kafka’s writing, then he got his ideals from him. They can also be categorized as hippies because they just party, do drugs, drink, be kind to others, and enjoy life without worrying about anything because, like Dean said, there isn’t anything worth worrying about. 

Response to Emily

I agree that both side of The United States have different "personalities" but I believe that the East represents stability and responsibility while the West represents madness and adventure. I also agree that the further West Sal goes, the more you realize that he will always want the same friends and comfort that he got from home and that home does, in a way, follow him. However, the further and further Sal leaves the East, the crazier the people get. Yes, they all do serve the same position that those back at home might have, but they are all mad. It's already been made clear that Sal has a liking towards mad people so I believe he wants the same feel that home gave him but with more childish characters surrounding him. The farther West he travels, the closer, I think, he will get to that goal. So far it hasn't been working out from him though. He started off with a home and a normal life and now he's living off barely anything and his mothers kindness.

Response to Emily

Emily, I agree that Sal feels a longing for home at the end of Part I; when he is spreading mustard on sandwiches in the back of a parking-lot john he has most certainly hit a low point. The spectacular land of opportunity has actually drained all his money and left him homeless on the street. He goes crawling back to his aunt, who seems to be an endless provider (Mona, I can relate to your frustration when Sal asks for ANOTHER 50 dollars). I believe Part I is developing an inkling of a theme; I am not sure if it will be more about the West itself or the people in his lives. Since Dean has become more present in Part II, I am hoping we will get to learn more about what it is that makes him so special.
Also, on a side note, does anyone think it possible that Sal is actually in love with Dean? Will they get together in the end?

Hooked again on Dean?

Now that Sal has spent a year away from Dean, he seems more enamored with him than ever. The first few chapters of Part II brought me to realize, however, that as an audience we do not know much about the character of Dean. As readers, we know only what Sal has told us, and Sal cannot help but see Dean in a nearly-divine light. For this reason, I see Sal as an unreliable narrator (thank you, AP lit vocab words). When I separate Dean from the compliments and obsession, he ceases to be the admirable character I envisioned.
While we were following Sal's adventure with his Mexican family, Dean was living a completely different life. He managed to get a job at a railroad that paid well, and began to settle down in a family, but then blew all the family cash on a car on a whim. He abandoned his daughter, Amy Moriarty, and her mother Camille without a second glance. "Without a qualm" (p. 103), he left Galatea Dunkel at a motel when she went broke. Then he begged Marylou on his knees to take him back, and nearly exploded his engine on the road. Is this really the kind of man Sal should be emulating? Even this new, 'mature' Dean seems highly self-centered and irresponsible. Sal admires his free spirit, but at this point in the novel Dean is looking more and more like an immature fool than a misunderstood genius.

Response

     I agree with Anike, Sal has not changed, Sal does seem like the same guy from the beginning of the novel. He’s been through so many new experiences and meet so many new people and yet they are all just memories. He has not put them to use and seems unaffected by his experiences. I also feel like Anike, frustrated by Sal’s inability to do anything with his time spent away. Sal has been a man of contradictions, he is actually the opposite of everything that people perceive him to be.  Sal is regarded by all who know him as a good friend but Remi was terrified that he would steal his girlfriend. He also destroyed Remi’s dinner with his stepfather by getting drunk and making a fool out of himself. Sal is said to be a good guy but he ditches Terry without saying goodbye to be with another women on the road. He is said to be talented by he lacks the ability to write under difficult circumstances and every time he presents his work it is rejected by professionals. People say that he’s hard working, but he has shirked every responsibility, as Anike has said. He seems to be incapable of making up for his mistakes. People seem to be very generous when it comes to interpreting his personality and attributing positive traits to him. Sal does not even seem to have good intentions. I am not sure what to make of him at this point.  

On the Road: Theme

When I began the novel On the Road, glorifying the old American West seemed to be the most conspicuous theme. In the beginning, the East represents home, shelter, intelligence, routine and safety to Sal. Originally Sal has lost his interest and inspiration for his home in the East. He decides that the East no longer inspires him to create the type of writing worthy of him. He needs a change and the West seemed like the kind of change that could help him write his greatest work. The West represents mystery, intrigue, adventure, and inspiration. The novel, through the narration of Sal, celebrated the wilder side of America. The West has the underlying American motto of “the melting pot”. The author conveys this diversity through the different types of people that Sal is exposed to on his journey of self-exploration in the West. He spends a great majority of his time with people in the middle and lower working class. This shows off the working spirit of American. Sal takes on different odd jobs while on his trip around the country. He is a cop, cotton picker, wander (vagabond) and an author. The differences in these careers allow him to meet types of people who he had never been exposed to in the East. He goes to the Opera and dresses up nice, thus showing him that the West also has culture and an upper class as well. These two different classes of people are also represented in his two different groups of friends. He started to drift from the “snobbier” group, which I thought were the type of friends who belonged to the upper class. I guess this shows that an author’s normal position in society during Jack’s time was with the middle and working class. As Sal travels and becomes more familiar with the land and its people, the West begins to become tamer to him. He sees that it was not so different from the people and places that he left behind.  Sal begins to yearn for home and what it used to provide, like family and stability.  I think the theme has started to turn into - no matter how far you roam, home will always call you back.   

Delirious

                This story is just a continuous repetition of Jacks puzzlement but with different experiences and tales. He isn't progressing in his lifestyle and just finds himself in the same situation but with different people. He doesn't know what he wants in life and just thinks that whatever he is doing at the moment and wherever he is is his "fate" and he is bound to stay there forever. "My back began to ache. But it was beautiful kneeling and hiding in that earth: if I felt like resting I did, with my face on the pillow of brown moist earth. Birds sang an accompaniment. I thought I had found my life's work." I doubt he actually even enjoys his new job and just tells himself that he loves it so that he can believe that all of his work and sacrifices were worth it.
                The problem with Jack is that he gets too caught up in other peoples lives. He originally started out on the road in order to achieve a single goal and now he's forgetting his purpose. "I forgot all about the East and all about Neal and Allen and the bloody road." He thinks that by getting involved with others, he can ignore his own purpose and just start a new life, but fate won't give it to him that easily. "Everything was collapsing" and before he knows it, "I was on the road again."
                Now he's left his little Mexican family and hasn't gained much from it. He ended up having to borrow ANOTHER 50 dollars from his mother, "my mother had saved my lazy ass again.", and now he's almost a hobo. "I had a dollar left. I sat on the low cement wall in back of a Hollywood parking lot and made the sandwiches using a piece of flat wood I found on the ground and cleaned to spread the mustard.... This was my last night in Hollywood and I was spreading mustard on my lap in back of a parkinglot john."
                Truthfully, I believe he's done this to himself. He should've just stayed on track and not gone down "the wrong road" which he's done all too many times. This boy better pick himself up and do something soon otherwise he'll just end up like the "Ghost" of an old man. "The Ghost was a shriveled, little old man with a paper satchel who claimed he was headed for 'Canady'." What Jack and the old man both have in common is that they have their own destinations that they think they're headed too but never reach.

Response to Emily

I agree with what you have to say about Sal seeking for a long lasting, true love life. The experiences he shared with Terry led me to believe he was maturing not only as a person, but as a future caring husband and father. It was evident that he got the job of cotton picker because he felt obligated to provide for a family that wasn't even his, but he took the role of the common man of the house and stepped up to provide for them. Since he moved on from Terry, I thought it would be hard for him to find another girl he connected well with, but thankfully he has found Lucille. Not much has been said about Lucille, but just to guess on the kind of woman Sal wants and needs, she pleases him sexually, knows how to have a good time, and is someone interesting who is full of surprises. From the beginning of the book it has been stated and restated that Sal is looking for his true personality, but a partner in love is a very large part of one’s personality, and so it seems fit to say that, just how he was subconsciously looking for his personality, he has also been subconsciously looking for true love. Finding out who he truly is will be hard, but if he finds his soul mate, the road to self-fulfillment will be easier and more enjoyable. 

Dean's Return

So Dean is back and is looking as lively as ever. He has again left a girl and gone back to Marylou and is back with Sal to go on another adventure after not seeing each other for over a year. As always, Dean is talking nonsense and doing whatever his impulse recommends. I don’t think seeing Dean again will be good for Sal because Sal was starting to mature and getting his life in order more or less and with Dean there it might just become a circle and Sal will end up going back to his old adventure seeking character. Sal thinks that Dean is changed and on his way to maturity, but how does leaving a wife with a kid behind and buying a car he can’t afford and driving it across the country show any signs of maturity. This shows that Sal is naïve and is somewhat star-struck by Dean and his wild ways.

Throughout the book, mistreatment of women has been a blatant issue but no character seems to have realized it or addressed it until now. Sal mistreated women, Dean mistreats them and cheats on them all the time, and now the most recent example of Ed, who marries a woman and then leaves her stranded with nothing once he gets annoyed of her. Sal says “the truth of the matter is that we don’t understand our women; we blame on them and it’s all our fault.” This shows how Sal has been learning to take responsibility for his actions and accepting that the blame should be put on him on some occasions. This also shows how he accepts that the men mistreat the woman, but he excuses it by saying that it is because they just don’t understand them. This brings me back to earlier thoughts I have shared about Sal unconsciously trying to find true love and not just another girl to have a nice night with. It all started with Terry and hopefully we will see that this true love is found with Lucille, who he wants to marry.

At first I saw Dean as the protagonist of the story, but now I see him as the antagonist because he is the key to Sal’s destruction. He leads Sal into paths that shape Sal in a way that he doesn’t need to be and so he shapes him wrong, and because Sal stupidly looks up to him, he won’t say no to Dean.

Response to Jon

I agree with Jon, it seems that sometimes Sal takes a greater interest in others than himself. This is not selflessness but I think it comes from low self esteem. I often think he has this adoration for others because he does not find his own life worth thinking about. In a way, it is mildly ridiculous that he is so infatuated with other people, like Dean and Carlo. I think this constant interest in others makes people like him a lot more than his personality deserves. Sal is very easily amused and in turn is also very easily taken in by the charm of other people. I think his eagerness to like and be liked gets him in trouble more often then he would like. He seems to collect the type of people who are mildly insane to amuse himself. As I venture further and further into the book, I really must say that I like Sal less and less. He almost becomes impossible to like. He alienates his friends and he destroys his love life. It is no wonder that he no longer has a wife. I am hoping that part two of this novel is a lot more exciting than part one. I hope also that Sal gains some sort of a personality, which does not include habits that I detest, but I feel like this is not likely. I am rapidly losing hope for On the Road!      

Sal's Love Life

What is it that Sal wants? I seriously cannot decide, and I suppose the reason for that is that he cannot decide either. He alienated most of his friends and it does not seem that he has come any closer to his creating his new novel. In fact, it has not even been mentioned. So, is the journey about finding love? It’s obvious that Sal has had a hard time with women in the recent past. He has been swindled and rejected by women of all shapes and sizes since the beginning of the novel. The novel begins with Sal discussing his recent divorce and how it influenced his need to see the West.  Sal’s character finally finds a form of love with a Mexican woman named Terry. I think because of the amount of rejection that he has had over the past couple of months traveling, he has lost faith in his ability to be with a woman. He makes up all sorts of excuses why Terry is not the right woman for him. He thinks that the only reason she was going along with him is because she is a hustler. This suspicion causes her to believe him to be a pimp. Finally they both get over their fears and make love for the first time. They travel together and he ends up meeting Terry's family and friends. They have this very easy going attitude and they keep talking about tomorrow. They speak about tomorrow as if it were some mystical place where all their problems would be solved. This "tomorrow" mentality meant that they did not search for jobs but expected jobs to find them. It basically puts their lives into the hands of fate or destiny.

Finally Sal secures a job as a cotton picker. He is slower and less efficient than the other men that he works with. Through this experience he gets his first signs of jealousy and want. Although, it did not seem like he did much to improve himself. He also took a fatherly role for a while. Terry had a son and Sal looked upon him fondly. He started to enjoy the quite peaceful life of a family. He liked the sense of being the bread winner. It makes him proud of himself but then he starts to get bored. He begins to long for his old life on the road and in the East. He ditches Terry and her son and makes his way to New York for a better tomorrow. 

Response to Mona

Mona, what an interesting idea you have brought up!
This feeling of "sonder" has been one I have questioned my whole life, sitting in the car and watching other people pass by, and looking out the window in New York City observing the endless stretch of buildings before me. Being in a bustling city like New York always drives me to feel the true impact of all the individuals that coexist around me. This feeling is something that has always intrigued me. The idea that so many people, all over Earth and perhaps scattered throughout the universe itself, have their own stories, goals, jokes, and experiences. Everyone is an individual, and everyone is the protagonist in his or her own novel. It can truly make you feel small, to realize that you are not the only one who has this complex network of memories stored inside your head; that everyone around you has an individual consciousness.
When I am driving, or just walking about, I often look up at a window and try to imagine what that unseeable person is doing. Where he or she came from; what he or she wants. This is usually a great way for me to come up with characters for my short stories. It is also a frustrating practice, since one can never really come to know another's story, and is trapped as the main individual of his or her own life.
I completely agree that this is something Sal is finding hard to deal with in his life. Until he accepts that he cannot fully know anyone but himself, he will continue to feel lost and alone.

Will Sal Ever Change?

After all the lives he has experimented with, Sal finally seems to be exhausted at the end of Part 1. He has gathered a multitude of experiences, but he does not yet know what to make of them. He returns to his aunt's house seemingly even more lost than he was when he left. His experiences seem to parallel his aunt's great "rag rug", woven from the clothes that have been in his family for years. Sal has traveled to strange and interesting places; he has met new and mad people. However, these memories are scattered in his mind like the great rag rug; pieced together but with no conceivable meaning.
Sal describes the great rag rug as "rich as the passage of time itself". At the end of his trip on the road, Sal seems to have both grown and stayed the same all at once. He gets a taste of what a life of responsibility entails through his time with Terry, but he also learns to shirk his duties with the Mexican men who always say "manana". He seems to understand the power of love, but then has no problem leaving Terry and necking with another girl on the road. Sal is a man of contradictions; perhaps because he himself does not know who he is.
When he returns home the first thing he regrets is missing Dean again. Clearly, Sal still has his same old obsession for Dean. I find it frustrating to follow the story of a man who seems incapable of growth.

Response to Chow

 Although you do bring up a good point, I believe that Sal's loneliness is his own fault. If all you do is just sit and listen to people stories as they come and go by and never attempt to develop a relationship between yourself and others who have similar personalities, than it’s no wonder why you're always alone! Then again, Sal doesn't even have a personality to start with so he can't exactly relate to anyone either. I don't understand how he can expect to find friends and end his solitude if he doesn't discover first what makes him love himself and life. He's kind of like a sponge, absorbing his surroundings but doing nothing about it. 

It is interesting that he enjoys other people’s everyday lives and listens to every word they have to say because I know that if I were him, I would get sick and tired after listening to only 3 people talk endlessly. 

Individualism

The fact that Sal is completely obsessed with other people's lives can be described as almost meddlesome. However, it can also be seen, on a more positive note, as being curious about the happenings of others and how they exist even though he cannot see them everyday. He has been indeed lonesome most of his life after being let go by his wife and losing his ability to write but, now he has found a way to undue his loneliness. He inquires about the lives of those he hitchhikes with and listens with intrigue. Usually, most people are annoyed by the stories that strangers divulge to them but, Sal is different. It is these stories that he is after. The only way for him to escape his cage of alienation from the rest of the world is through these conversations that he has with people. The reader also becomes apparent of the reason as to why Sal is constantly lonely when not talking to others: he understands that, though he has his own life to live, so do others and they continue on with their lives without caring about others even though they to have their own lives to run. This idea of individualism drives Sal to sadness since he realizes how alone everyone is including himself. His form of correction though is by trying to include others in his world of conversation as to fight of the individualistic spell.

Sonder

                Sonder is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. Jack is attempting to learn all of these stories and that's why I think he is always to happy to hitchhike with strangers. Whenever he gets into someone's car, he learns new stories and a new passageway to the few lives he's already learned of is created. "I love the way everybody says L.A. on the Coast, it's their one and only golden town when all is said and done." Jack is so fascinated and filled with admiration for other people, it's not wonder he possesses "sonder".
                Realizing that the world is more complex and grand than just you can make one feel incredibly insignificant and lonely. "'I'm very glad you let me sit with you, I was very lonely and I've been traveling a hell of a lot.'" It's like learning that there is so much more out there in the universe than just Earth. There could be a whole other planet filled with life forms similar to us, and we just don't know it. How small and insignificant would you feel?
                Jack constantly seeks out the stories of other peoples lives but they all come and go, none of them every really stay with him. As many people as Jack meet or as many little adventures he goes on, he'll always end up back alone on the road. This is why it is impossible to know EVERYONE'S lives. I would suppose that after a while, with all of those experiences in mind, one would become crazed. "I don't know why. I began getting the foolish paranoiac idea that Beatrice---her name--- was a common little hustler who worked the nudes for a guys bucks, and that she had regular appointments like ours in L.A." Overwhelming his brain with all different types of "souls" can be reason as to why Jack might confuse people and go a little "mad", which is what I think he's been seeking this whole time. I also suppose that once you've meet so many people and learned all the different combinations of ones "soul" or personality, you would know exactly who you like and what you want. I was at first surprised that Jack and Beatrice got along in the beginning so well and so quickly but Jack is just experienced with people in that sense and therefor knew that he liked her.