The novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac is often characterised as a travelogue. To a certain degree, this might work since the author made some travels around the United States before working on the Novel. Even the routes of his trips resemble to some degree the routes within On the Road. In 1947 Kerouac travelled from New York to Illinois, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, California and back to New York. In 1950, he took another long trip, which led him from New York to Denver, Texas and Mexico. Nevertheless On the Road is more than a description of autobiographic experiences on the road. Other critics underline the autobiographic role of balancing accounts with his friendship to Neal Cassidy who serves in the alias of Dean within the novel. Others criticized the novel as being no more than a manifest for the Beat culture, a “puff piece” for a life as tramp, consuming drugs and departure from a “normal life”. This work will try to point out some of the meanings and allusions hidden in the novel. Chapter 1 will set On the Road in connection with earlier “hobo-literature” to elucidate Kerouac’s ideals of a life as a tramp. As a kind of travelogue On the Road is about movement and thus about space. Chapter 2 will show what space or the change of space means for the novel and how it constitutes the matter of time within the novel. Chapter 3 focusses the “dynamics of friendship” - the development of the protagonist’s friendship. The last chapter deals with the quest for experience, which is one of the most prominent intertextual ingredients in the novel. On the Road was frequently referred to as “novel of initiation” or description of a spiritual pilgrimage.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. On the Road and the tradition of hobo-literature
2. Time and space in On the Road
3. The dynamics of friendship in On the Road
4. The spiritual pilgrimage
Summary
Objectives and Topics
This work examines the central literary motives within Jack Kerouac’s novel "On the Road," analyzing how themes of the hobo tradition, time-space perception, friendship dynamics, and spiritual pilgrimage reflect the author's critique of post-war industrialized society and his search for individual authenticity.
- The influence of historical hobo-literature on Kerouac’s characterization.
- The reconstruction of time and space as a rejection of capitalistic mechanization.
- The evolution of the relationship between the protagonists Sal and Dean.
- The concept of the novel as a "novel of initiation" and spiritual journey.
- The search for "IT" and authentic experience within Beat culture.
Excerpt from the Book
1. On the Road and the tradition of hobo-literature
Within history of American literature, there are two different kinds of tramps: the comic kind like Chaplin’s “The Tramp” (1915) and the “surly, scarred degenerate” like in Warren’s “Blackberry Winter” or “the lonesome hitchhiker” like in Updike’s “The Centaur”. The latter may “arouse curiosity, revulsion or pity, but they seldom are a cause of laughter”.2 Seeley denotes the Clown-tramp as Dionysian but the real tramp as “detrection from the Appolonian ideal”.3 In stories of Warren and Updike, the tramp is always a figure of failure, a person who is laughed at. Eric Hoffer (1952) compared the tramp with a pioneer whose rejects of society would exert itself if given a chance. Seelye also points out some comical qualities in Kerouac’s tramps. Although they are not necessary comical, they are sentimentalized and abstracted from reality. In “The Dharma Bums”, Kerouac denotes tramps as “…little men, hiding in the weeds and hopping on in the shadows…”4 In On the Road, Dean Moriarty is described as son of a hobo, raggedy father, con man and a saint, but he is never called a tramp. Dean’s “restless excitement is often associated with automobiles. In the following passage, Dean seems to come down on Sal like an archangel:
“Suddenly I had a vision of Dean, a burning shuddering frightful angel, palpitating toward me across the road, approaching like a cloud, with enormous speed, pursuing me like the Shrouded Traveller on the plain, bearing down on me. I saw his huge face over the plains with the mad bony purpose and the gleaming eyes; I saw his wings; I saw his old jalopy chariot with thousands of sparkling flames shooting out from it;…”5 (Chapter 2, Part IV)
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter introduces the novel as more than a travelogue, positioning it as a complex work of Beat culture that explores identity and experience through the lens of intertextuality.
1. On the Road and the tradition of hobo-literature: This section situates Kerouac's work within the American literary history of tramps and pioneers, contrasting his specific characterization of the hobo figure with previous literary depictions.
2. Time and space in On the Road: This chapter analyzes how Kerouac challenges capitalistic perceptions of time and space, emphasizing the importance of "the moment" and authentic experiences over rigid societal structures.
3. The dynamics of friendship in On the Road: This section interprets the novel as a complex relationship study, tracing the evolution of the bond between Sal and Dean as a central component of the narrative’s emotional journey.
4. The spiritual pilgrimage: This chapter argues that the novel functions as an initiation ritual, where the characters reject artificial social virtues in favor of a deeper search for enlightenment and human connection.
Summary: The concluding chapter synthesizes the main motives—tramp, time/space, and pilgrimage—to argue that the novel is a quest for deeper meaning rather than a mere documentation of life on the road.
Keywords
Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Beat Generation, Hobo-literature, Intertextuality, Spiritual pilgrimage, Time and space, Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise, Authenticity, Jazz culture, Initiation, American literature, Vagrancy, Counterculture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this study?
The study investigates the underlying literary and thematic motives in Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," focusing specifically on how the author uses intertextuality and allusion to critique societal norms.
What are the key thematic areas discussed?
The work centers on the tradition of hobo-literature, the philosophical construction of time and space, the psychological dynamics of friendship, and the concept of the novel as a spiritual pilgrimage.
What is the main research question or goal?
The primary goal is to move beyond the superficial view of "On the Road" as a simple travelogue and to uncover the hidden meanings, ideals, and philosophical inquiries that define the narrative.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, drawing upon intertextual references, historical context, and philosophical concepts—such as Heidegger’s temporality and Lukacs' reification theory—to interpret the text.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body breaks down the novel’s structure into critical themes, comparing Kerouac's tramps to historical archetypes, analyzing the role of "IT" in jazz, and exploring the developmental journey of the protagonists.
How can the work be characterized by its keywords?
The work is characterized by terms reflecting both the literary analysis (intertextuality, initiation) and the thematic core of the novel (Beat generation, authenticity, spiritual pilgrimage).
How does the author define the shift in time perception in the novel?
The author contrasts the "capitalist" measurement of time, which leads to alienation, with the "authentic" time lived in the moment, which Dean Moriarty embodies throughout his travels.
What is the significance of the "spiritual pilgrimage" in the text?
It represents the narrator's quest to reject the artificiality of 1940s American conformity in order to reach a state of individual enlightenment through the experiences and cultures he encounters on the road.
How does the relationship between Sal and Dean change?
The relationship develops from an innocent admiration by Sal toward Dean into a complex struggle, where Sal eventually achieves independence and a deeper, more critical understanding of Dean's flawed existence.
- Quote paper
- MA Guido Maiwald (Author), 2007, Jack Kerouac´s "On the Road". Intertextuality and Allusion in the Novel, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/214764
