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.
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.
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