Same Old Story

It has come to a point where this book has become annoyingly repetitive and I have lost some interest in reading it. It seems to always be Sal going up on his standards of living and then Dean comes along and messes it all up. It’s a bit pathetic how much of a follower Sal is. He is just a little lamb following his shepherd, but he doesn’t understand that the shepherd is leading him towards a wolf cave. His life could be all settled by now. He could have a wife, a stable home, a stable job, money to feed himself, and maybe even children that could become his little following sheep. I also hate how Dean always gets in the way of Sal staying with the right people. He’s missed opportunities in the past to have good friends that stand as decent role models, but something about Dean always brings him back. Like the most recent one, Old Bull. This character shows Sal the importance of hard work by telling him that nothing you buy will be as good as something you make because if you make it yourself you know you will have put in all your efforts into it for your own advantage. Or the fact that you sometimes need to listen to yourself for a second and realize that your unconscious might be telling you something important, and although this message was shown by betting on horses, the subliminal and deeper meaning is between the lines. That is the problem with Sal. He doesn’t read between the lines and doesn’t listen to his unconscious. He hears, but doesn’t listen. There are moment when he just wonders to himself “what the hell is happening and what the hell is Dean doing.” Like when Dean just decided to get naked mid highway and explore the ruins. It was understood from the begging that Dean was a free spirit, but this is just getting weird. He is basically a symbol for all that seems to be wrong. He takes from people, he cheats, he pretends to love a cheater, he uses everyone for his own advantages, and he misguides the lost wandering souls for his own enjoyment.

Let's just enjoy the ride

     Like many of my group members, I have been struggling to find a theme for the novel thus far. I think this is most likely due to the fact that Sal does not face a true conflict, and he does not possess a goal. Most novels are written in a way where the main character is struggling to achieve something. Sal is a lost soul, and therefore he does not know what he wants. This, I believe, is why many of us cannot seem to get involved in the story.     
     While reading Part II, however, I believe I may have reached a conclusion about the theme. So far in my reading, I have begun to feel that perhaps the ‘point’ of the book is not to convey a message to the readers, but to convey a feeling of the era. On the Road captures the adventures of a restless generation. Maybe we are analyzing the novel too strictly.      
     Toward the beginning of Part II, Carlo says he has an announcement to make. This announcement is more of a question than a statement. He says, “What kind of sordid business are you on now? I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America in thy shiny car at night?” (p. 110). Nobody answers him because, in truth, they do not know where they are going or why they feel the need to move. When the boys get bored, or run out of things to say, they just make a plan to go somewhere else. I believe Dean’s reluctance to stay in one place is what makes him so attractive to the other characters. As teenagers, we all often wish we could hop in a car and just drive away. Sal’s generation is lost; they are circling America to find a place to call home. 
     Carlo has become my favorite character because of his interesting poetry rambles. He walks around with his sheets of poetry and only speaks when he has something to say. His personality is quite different from Dean’s; Dean is aways blurting out his thoughts and emotions. When listening to the music box for instance, he exclaims “Ah! Whee!” (p. 110). I find his comments rather irritating. I think overall, however, we need to be more lenient in our analyses. We cannot look for a concrete structure in On the Road because it is not built the way most novels are. I suppose we just have to keep on reading and try to enjoy the ride. 

On the Road

I suppose I’ve said this in almost every post I’ve written but I honestly I cannot stand this book. Both Sal and Dean have such strange ways on how they approach life. Neither of them seem to have a plan about what they want for the future or who they want to spend their future with. I’m having a hard time understanding what the point of the book is, and also what the point of Sal’s journey to the west is actually for. Sal starts the book as an author looking for some type of inspiration after a creativity sucking divorce. I originally presumed that Sal was suppose to make some sort of character arch which initiates a new type of invigoration for Sal writing. Instead, Sal then becomes a policeman, a field worker, and a pressure cooker sales man. He has not once, since the beginning of the book, mention what he plans to write about or what this journey is helping him accomplish.

            Another things that I’ve notices, that I’ve mention before, is Sal’s inability to keep friends. He angers almost all of them by the time that they have to part way. The only friend that was immune to this was Dean because Dean was this heroic character in Sal’s life. Then as Sal’s journey comes to a close, he becomes tried of Dean and his antics. He parts ways with Dean and his girlfriend in a very hostile manner. The only place where I have seen any character development in Sal is his new tiresome and disapproving perception on Dean’s love life.  As I mention in a previous blog post, On the Road has an underlying theme of unstable relationship between women and men. Sal seems to finally have enough of Dean treatment of women and relationship, which is a small character accomplishment.  Dean again proves to be a character incapable of change, when he ditches his lover and daughter and gets together with his ex- wife. Then his ex-wife runs off with a wealthier man, when she grows tired of Dean. She realizes that she no longer has feeling for him, and no longer desires to be in their somewhat emotionally abusive relationship. Then she returns and Dean takes her back willingly. Even Sal, who seems incapable of seeing anything wrong with Dean at first, hates the idea that the two of them are together again.    

This is madness

I've begun to notice that Jack is taking on his own personality and is no longer following others paths and acting as the rag doll to all of his friends. Instead, Neal is beginning to turn into the copycat and wants to be every mad person that he meets. "He took me into a corner. 'That Allen Anson is the greatest most wonderful of all. That's what I was trying to tell you ... That's what I want to be... I want to be like him..... You see, if you go like him all the time you'll finally get it." Neal says this about at least 3 other characters he meets. So basically, the tables have turned. Now Jack thinks for himself and actually gets angry at Neal for being an idiot rather than constantly admiring him and Neal is like a dog chasing after people he sees as Gods. The more people Neal meets, the crazier he starts to get as well. He keeps talking about finding IT and doesn't even specify what IT means. It's as if he's sunken into the deep end of looney town and just babbles about having to constantly move and find something that he doesn't even know for certain exists or if he'll ever find it. "'Get what?' 'IT! IT! I'll tell you--now no time, we have no time now.'" 

Neal also gets too carried away in himself. He'll be calm and serene at one point but the moment others start to get excited, he'll not only get excited with them, but he'll become over the top. "He began to rock in the piano seat, back and forth, slowly at first, then the beat went up, and he began rocking fast, his left foot jumped up with every beat, his neck began to rock crookedly, he brought his face down to the keys, he pushed his hair back, his combed hair dissolved, he began to sweat." Every time Neal becomes enthusiastic, he sweats as though he is having a major work out and I feel like all this happiness really takes a toll on his body but since he's so crazy, his mind ignores all human necessity. Maybe it'll hurt him in the end, or maybe he's just able to deal with his madness.