Unfair Battle of the Sexes

Sal is still young and maybe not ready for a lifelong commitment yet but he is yearning for a partner to have a long lasting relationship with who will be willing to do the same rebellious and spontaneous things Sal has been doing this whole time. Sal has a way with the girls and has been sleeping around with different women all throughout the book; the problem being is that he hasn’t found someone he can truly connect with on an emotional level (the physical level doesn’t seem to be a problem for any guy or girl in this book). When he was in California I thought for sure he would be bringing Terry along with him back to New York because he really cared about her, but fear of commitment and the want to avoid any complications drew him away. This happened again with Lucille, and once Sal saw that Lucille didn’t connect with the people Sal loved hanging out with and traveling the country with, he realized that he didn’t want to spend any more time with her.

One can also see that although all these people are looking for someone to commit themselves to, the male partner in the relationship puts the woman through a horrible time and completely screws them over. This happened with Sal and Terry when he left her in Cali, Dean and Camille when he left her broke and with a child to go with Marylou, and Ed and Galatea when, out of nowhere, he decided he didn’t enjoy her company anymore and that her nagging over the uncomfortable situations they encountered were too annoying, so he just leaves her with no regard. The problem of course, is that the women is this book are also made to be stupid and ignorant. I don’t understand what crosses Galatea’s mind for her to still want to be with Ed after he has treated her so poorly and even makes love to him the first time they re-encounter. This book can be considered sexist, favoring the males by a long shot, but maybe Kerouac is rather trying to point out the fact that society nowadays values physical pleasures more than emotional support.

Response to Emily

I agree that Kerouac has a talent to making women nothing but a sex object of which men can get temporary pleasure from, only to discard them and trade them later on as if they were broken toys. But as you were saying, this book is characterized by mindless behavior and making stupid mistakes because of a lack of experience and knowledge that they are even doing something wrong. As for Dean and Marylou, they are the kinky weird couple who love and hate each other and are fine seeing the other be happy with someone else as long as they come back to one another in the end. For example when Dean wanted Sal to do it with Marylou just to see what she was like with someone else. Obviously that isn’t something most people would want, but this book is about just going with it and doing dumb things without thinking twice because thinking twice is sometimes the evil factor behind regrets.

Response to Mona

I completely agree with Mona. Sal is a sheep; he follows the most interesting characters he can find into less than desirable situation. Dean, as Jon mentioned, is a sheep because she is unable to handle any situation properly. Sal is not the sort of strong leader who is usually the protagonist in classic novels. I think that because Sal is so wishy-washy, which is in such contrast to most successful novels, it makes him an unpredictable character. I have a feeling, that precisely because he is so different, the book has become iconic. I also believe it’s why the book is extremely frustrating and difficult to get through. I do not necessarily enjoy that a character as flimsy as Neal can control Sal and his friends so easily. Sal seems to morph and become like whatever person he happens to be with at the time. I think a lot of situations could have been avoided if Sal was stronger and more demanding. I thought that Dean would fill this gap but instead Dean is too insane to control his own actions much less Sal’s. I am finding it extremely hard to like any of the characters at this point.    

On the Road: The Relationships

Real people are not perfect. They do not always do the right thing. They sometimes make poor decisions, which can ultimately affect others in a permanent and damaging way. Young people are especially venerable to being labeled as irresponsible or trouble when they make a mistake. The true estimate of a person’s kindness and redeemability is their ability to fix or at least understand what they have done wrong  and try to change it. Although I understand this, and making mistakes is part of being human, Sal and his friends are truly a new breed of crazy, irresponsible, and terrible. When it comes to women, none of his friends have an ounce of respect. They discard women like garbage when a new opportunity arises or a better woman comes along. When Sal was last united with Dean he was cheating on his girlfriend. He was balancing two different relationships. Sal and all of Dean’s other friends are completely supportive of this behavior. Before that, Dean and his wife, Marylou, seem to have a loud and abusive relationship, where neither of the two feels they need to change their ways. Sal’s friend Remi picks a horrible girlfriend, who only chose Remi because she thought that he had money. When she found out that Remi was broke, she and Remi begin to fight constantly. It also seemed to be somewhat of an emotionally abusive relationship. Then Sal finds a good girl, but he ditches her when he becomes bored and tired of her lifestyle. He gives her hope that they may meet again, but I do not think that he had any intention of seeing her again. Finally when Sal reconnects with Dean, he learns that Dean has abandoned his wife Camille and his daughter and has reconnected with his ex-wife Marylou. He completely shirks the responsibilities of fatherhood because he is scared and crazy. Sal’s other friend Ed marries Galatea but then leaves her in Arizona because she refused to pay for him and his friends. It seems that Jack Kerouac has a talent for creating male characters who are sexist and arrogant. The girls that he writes about are not only weak losers but also seem to be promiscuous and self-loathing. If Marylou had any self respect she would have never reunited with Dean, who is obviously mental unstable and prone to cheating. I am very pessimistic about the outlook of Sal and his friends’ love lives. At this moment I find most of the male characters disgusting.           

Response to Mona

     Mona, I agree with your comparison of Dean to a sheep herder; everyone that meets him seems to want to be him. Like every leader, Dean has a natural magnetism. He is the catalyst for Sal's new life and everything he aims to achieve. The first page of the novel starts with, "I first met Dean..." (p. 1). It does not come as a surprise, then, that Dean has been the driving force for the entire novel. Perhaps Sal is like Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. He seems to be the narrator of a grand story that is not about him at all. Instead it is about Dean and everything he represents: freedom, control, and clarity. Dean is a free spirit; he refuses to be held down by anyone. For this reason, he has difficulties keeping a relationship and remaining loyal to one girl. Although Sal wants to pursue a steady relationship and "rest my soul with her till we both get old" (p. 108), he cannot break from Dean. Like America itself, Dean shines with opportunity, mystery, and promise. Wherever he goes he brings a crowd of followers with him. Perhaps this is why Neal Cassidy was such an influential figure in the Beat Generation.

The Dean Moriarty Bug

     I think at this point we have all developed different opinions on Dean's character. Some of us think he's a genius, and others think he's a phony who says whatever comes to mind and makes it sound deep. He seems quite childish in his jokes and observations, but this is exactly what makes him so different. Like we learned in Mr. Shapiro's lectures, Dean has something everyone yearns for: clarity. Dean has no filter whatsoever; when they are visiting Times Square he remarks "we were a band of Arabs coming in to blow up New York" (p. 108). He pursues an unconventional lifestyle, jumping from girl to girl and cheating on every single one. This is what makes Dean so appealing to Sal, who perceives Dean's clarity as absolute genius. Dean does not seem to feel insecurity like Sal does; he is confident in his decisions, no matter how mad they seem. He lives in the present and makes the most of each day.
     When Sal is just getting comfortable living his own life again, Dean shows up at his front door and leads him on a whole new trek on the road. Will Sal learn more with Dean around or will he go backwards maturity-wise? Dean certainly introduces him to that restless youth lifestyle, but he also an uncanny ability to organize and give other people commands. Like Mona mentioned, Dean is the perfect sheep herder. He has the power to attract followers with his charisma and direct them where to go. I must wonder, however, if Dean is actually leading Sal on the path to some kind of beatnik Nirvana or if he is just that bad influence our parents want us to stay away from.
     I did some research online and found out Dean is meant to be Neal Cassidy, a major figure of the Beat Generation. I also found out Carlo Marx is Allen Ginsberg (I swear he was my favorite from the start!). This is why Mona's names are different from all of ours; she has the original manuscript. Perhaps knowing the context behind the story will help us to understand Dean's musings and recognize them as genius. Or maybe they will make the works of Neal Cassidy look like meaningless rambles. I guess we will just have to wait and see how the story unfolds. Either way, it's hard not to catch the Dean Moriarty bug.

Response to Mona

You are very correct in comparing Neal to a sheep herder. It is possible that he just has that effect on others causing them to follow his every word without much question or thought. It can also result from, what you said, his incredible intellect and childlike behavior that creates a very attractive glow which pulls his friends into his custody. However, when Mr. Shapiro told us of those people that can have very high IQ levels, I believe that those people are brilliant but cannot converse with others because they would not be able to relate since they are on a whole different level. In the case of Jack and Neal, Jack follows Neal around like a sheep, but I do not believe it is because Neal is smarter than Jack. On the contrary, I believe that Jack has a far superior intellect when compared to Neal but, I do believe that he follows Neal because, unlike Neal, Jack cannot relate to other people because he is, as I stated earlier, on a different level. So, if anyone fits the description that Mr. Shapiro gave us in that lecture, I do believe the person that fits in Jack because of his high level of intellect and his incapability to relate with other people.

Small Piece of Peace

I see your point Mona and I completely agree with your thoughts. Due to Sal's lack of confidence and Dean's lack of self-control, they will both find themselves caught up with the consequences of their actions soon enough. The way I think about how Sal should have handled the whole ordeal from the get-go though, is a whole different story. Almost everyone works to reach some form of peace in their life and many never find it but, most of the time that is because they aren't looking in the right places. Sal, like any other person is searching for that small portion of peace I was talking about earlier. His take on it is that he must move West, were he has never been before, because it is unexplored territory for him and his most recent location (East) has only lead to extreme depression. Now, from the experiences that Jack tells us about in the story show that Sal thinks he is on the right path but, in the back of his mind I believe that he is still skeptical about his journey with Dean. If I were Sal, I would first have considered the possibility that the peace that I seek might actually be not that far from home and look more closely at the environment that surrounded me. Most of the time, the things were are searching for are actually right under our noses. For example, in the story The Alchemist, Santiago, the main character, is first introduced when awakens in an abandoned church that has a hole in the ceiling. Afterwards, Santiago goes on a journey that takes him from his home in Spain and across the Middle East to find the Alchemist who is suppose to tell Santiago where the treasure of the universe hides. In the end, Santiago realizes the answer and returns to the church from the beginning of the story and digs up the treasure while laughing. So, a lesson that is taught from this story is that our most wanted desires are closer than we think. Therefore, I believe Sal should look closer to home rather than going off searching in an area he has never been to before. 

Response to Chows Old post

I agree with Chow about how Sal is desperately trying to find an alternate life style to replace his old boring one, but I think The Metamorphosis is more about how even when someone has a boring job, if they get sick or something dramatic happens and they're incapable of doing daily activities, they still are too afraid to go against the institution of state and stop working. Mainly, people are a slave to their work. Sal is more of a slave to Dean's madness and let's himself get dragged around on crazy adventures because deep down inside, it's what he wants. Sal definitely did have a boring life before his little "road trip" and I agree with you that he is searching for fun in the wrong places that could evidently hurt him, but I think he's just too caught up in himself to understand that.
It is true that responsibility is almost unavoidable and I agree that they will soon have to realize that the can't be fooling around all the time; however, it is possible to avoid responsibility. Now, that being said, it may be possible but the outcome isn't a good one. They can either choose to lead a childish, irresponsible life and end up in a hell hole, or they can pick themselves up and do something reasonable for a change. With every action is a reaction.

The Sheep Herder

As much as Neal and Jack try to be responsible human beings, they always end up having someone else pick up after them. Whether it be Jack picking up after Neal, or Jacks mother picking up after him. Neal is ultimately a child and I find him to be too comfortable with the people he meets because he pretty much just walked into Jacks family's house and made himself at home. Neal is like a sheep herder and all of his friends are the sheep. They all listen to him and he automatically assumes the position of a leader. "Furiously he hustled into the railroad station; we followed sheepishly."
I think Neal's friends like being the sheep though because they don't have to think for themselves in that case, all they have to do is listen and act. "'Alright now,' said Neal suddenly waking up and leaping out of bed 'what we must do is eat, at once, Louanne rustle around the kitchen see what there is, Jack you and I go downstairs and call Allen, Al you see what you can do straightening out the house.' I followed Neal bustling downstairs." Neal isn't even in his own house and the first thing he does when he wakes up is give everyone else (including himself) a job to do.
Neal reminds me of the lecture Mr. Shapiro gave us about how some people can have such IQ's that they don't know how to communicate with anyone else. I think Neal is just a brilliant person trapped with a childlike sense of humor. "There was nothing clear about the things he said, but what he meant to say was somehow made pure and clear." Neal can go on for house about how society already knows, and time exists and God is real, and I'm pretty sure what he says makes sense in his own mind but when I (the reader) read his dialogue, it sounds like free speech where he's just saying whatever comes to his mind.