Outline for Term Paper

1.  Discuss Kerouac's use of the passage of time in the novel.

Kerouac's notion of time seems to be that of an entity that is constantly moving and constantly taking other people with it.

I.  In the novel, Sal feels many different emotions concerning this idea. As he sees his friends growing smaller in the rear window of a car as he leaves them, he regrets not being able to be a part of their lives permanently. However, the life he seeks makes such ideas impossible to achieve. This is also the case in the memories that Sal and Dean continually share. They cannot conquer the past, so they continually try to relive it with new memories.

II. Even though Sal has promised to marry and settle down with his new fiance, he cannot do so once Dean magically appears at his doorstep. As soon as Dean tempts him to, again, get on the road and travel, Sal has no other choice but to do as he says and follow Dean across the nation just like before.

III. The idea behind the never ending road is to be constantly moving from one point to another. The possibility of stopping in one spot and living there forever is unfathomable to Sal and Dean because the road is also a form of escape from their pasts, or better known as mistakes. Time, therefore, has no real meaning to Sal and Dean once they're on the road traveling from one spot to another. It actually does not even matter where they travel too only that they continue to move and just never stay in one area for too long.