The End

The end of On the Road left me with more of a feeling than a concrete message. The entire book is a flow of emotion and events that do not fit together neatly. Sal’s adventures are often quite simple and dull, and both he and Dean seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. That said, I think the book is realistic and believable. Life is almost never neat and tidy; sometimes we do not know what we are looking for and just keep on moving for the sake of living. 

Sal and Dean do not understand their lives, but they feel a strong desire to exist and to explore. They are unconventional characters because they do not have a “goal”. They also do not change much over the course of the novel, which leaves the reader with an empty, unfulfilled feeling. 

Dean is Dean throughout the novel, and even at the end he cannot help but be his old ‘mad’ self. He jumps from Camille to Marylou to Inez, and fathers several children that he has no hope of supporting properly. As a reader, I dislike Dean and do not find him interesting. However, I can understand how Sal, as a writer, might seek to understand him. Most of the time, Sal perceives his meaningless ramblings as genius. I think a question we have all been pondering is whether or not Dean’s observations have any value at all. In my opinion, Dean is just a troubled spirit trying unsuccessfully to find direction in his life. 

At the end, I feel Sal has changed somewhat and seems to have a future laid out for himself with Laura. He still, however, admires Dean and the spirit of the West. He has become far closer with Dean than he perhaps ever imagined, and sees him as his brother for life. 

As the novel progressed, what was once a crazy young Dean became an irresponsible and immature adult. Although at one point he emitted a wild and free spirit, he soon became a man without direction or hope. The mess Dean caused through his irresponsible actions is irreparable, and I cannot help but dislike him. Sal still admires him, however, which frustrates me to no end. The book did not have a concrete ending; it was more of a flow and series of events. The ending was unsatisfying, and the book as a whole was difficult to get through.