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.