On the Road Essay
Nicholas J Cheaney
Dineen
AP-Lit Man City
10 Dec 12 Beating the Beat In the 1940s the Beat Generation sprung up and took the nation by storm. Many people in their later teenage years started to become “rebels” to what society thinks. This rebellious lifestyle sparked various different views; those that look up to them, and those that look down upon them. Jack Kerouac plays a major role in this time period pertaining to this lifestyle, authoring many works about it, one being On the Road. He uses the characters in this story to depict the diverse views on the Beatniks. This strong interpretation used throughout the novel sets the stage for many other authors writing on behalf of the Beat Generation. The characters he uses in this novel are the representation of the view which looks upon the Beats. Jack Kerouac portrays the negative side of the beat generation by using the moral downfall of Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise’s struggle for an identity, and the hardships of other characters.
The Beat lifestyle and Beatnik Generation are represented in many of Jack Kerouac’s works, and in On the Road, he shows the negative sides to finding “it”. Kerouac was also one of the original founders and formed the core to this Beat generation that was formed. Being considered a Beat in the 1940s/Post WW2 era meant that one was taboo of the societal norm, and considered a rebel to the traditional American lifestyle choices. The Beat Generation is credited to be a free-wheeling lifestyle that involves heavy drinking, drugs, multiple sexual partners, and other excesses. In On the Road, Kerouac changes the idea of a Beat from someone who is “mad”, or desirous of everything at the same time. By the end of the novel Kerouac uses the Detroit movie theater to describe a Beat as trash, or people who have been discarded by society. “It” is never clearly defined in the novel, however it is the idea that you have everything in life figured out and you are living a direction-less,
Dineen
AP-Lit Man City
10 Dec 12 Beating the Beat In the 1940s the Beat Generation sprung up and took the nation by storm. Many people in their later teenage years started to become “rebels” to what society thinks. This rebellious lifestyle sparked various different views; those that look up to them, and those that look down upon them. Jack Kerouac plays a major role in this time period pertaining to this lifestyle, authoring many works about it, one being On the Road. He uses the characters in this story to depict the diverse views on the Beatniks. This strong interpretation used throughout the novel sets the stage for many other authors writing on behalf of the Beat Generation. The characters he uses in this novel are the representation of the view which looks upon the Beats. Jack Kerouac portrays the negative side of the beat generation by using the moral downfall of Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise’s struggle for an identity, and the hardships of other characters.
The Beat lifestyle and Beatnik Generation are represented in many of Jack Kerouac’s works, and in On the Road, he shows the negative sides to finding “it”. Kerouac was also one of the original founders and formed the core to this Beat generation that was formed. Being considered a Beat in the 1940s/Post WW2 era meant that one was taboo of the societal norm, and considered a rebel to the traditional American lifestyle choices. The Beat Generation is credited to be a free-wheeling lifestyle that involves heavy drinking, drugs, multiple sexual partners, and other excesses. In On the Road, Kerouac changes the idea of a Beat from someone who is “mad”, or desirous of everything at the same time. By the end of the novel Kerouac uses the Detroit movie theater to describe a Beat as trash, or people who have been discarded by society. “It” is never clearly defined in the novel, however it is the idea that you have everything in life figured out and you are living a direction-less,