On the Road 645wherever you go (as our heroes find out numerous
times). But the vast landmass that is America holds
the promise of autonomy, independence, and a (pos-
sibly hedonistic) escape from daily life. Contempo-
rary readers who embark on extended road trips are
looking for an escape from their mundane daily lives.
Economic freedom is one of the essential free-
doms enjoyed by the protagonists of On the Road.
At a time when the economy was booming, thanks
to postwar industry, an increasing emphasis was
being placed on personal economic success. Capital-
ism and materialism were at an all-time high. By
turning their backs on this phenomenon, and not
joining the so-called “rat-race,” Dean and his friends
freed themselves from this tyranny of wealth. This
economic freedom is personified in the character of
“Old” Dean Moriarty, Dean’s father, a character who
never actually appears but is discussed, searched for,
and virtually deified by Sal and Dean. A tramp, he
is thought to wander the roads, with no money, no
prospects, and, most important, no ties. While he
may seem a somewhat sad character for this, the rev-
erent tones used while speaking of him imply that
his life represents the pinnacle of economic freedom
for which the characters are striving.
Sal and his cohort also exemplify a kind of
political freedom. In postwar America things were
changing rapidly, and one of the prominent changes
was the relationship between the races. While the
Civil Rights movement in America would not
become a national concern until the 1960s, by the
late 1940s there were already developments in these
relations. The culture of segregation that had been
prevalent since the late 19th century was beginning
to collapse. Sal, Dean, and the others seem, to some
extent, oblivious to any tensions between the races,
as they befriend African-American characters in
several cities, and display an appreciation for black
culture that was rare at the time. Sal’s escapade in
California with the Mexican workers also gives him
insight into the many problems faced by other races
and cultures. On the Road succeeds not only in high-
lighting positive aspects of other cultures, but also
in presenting a more relaxed relationship between
the races.
Of course, the pursuit of personal freedom is at
the core of On the Road. All of the characters are try-
ing to free themselves from the constraints placed on
them by society, family, and by themselves. While it
may seem that the characters are repeatedly running
away from their problems, they are also running to
an imaginary, nirvana-like existence where they are
free to live as they please. To some, this may sound
immature. To others, it is at the heart of any spiritual
journey.
In the end, the novel both propagates and
destroys the hope of tremendous freedom from daily
life. Mexico is the most ambitious trip the friends
embark upon, and Sal’s illness combined with Dean’s
eventual abandonment of him does not make for
a happy conclusion. However, the night that Sal,
Dean, and Stan spend outside becomes a sticky, hot,
insect-ridden dreamscape in which Sal comes as
close as he can to pure freedom. After this moment
of awareness in the desert, Sal returns to New York
and begins to lead a considerably more “proper”
life—but a life forever changed by his experiences
on the road.
Georgina Willmsindividual and Society in On the Road
On the Road is an intensely personal story told as a
first-person narrative through the point of view of
Sal Paradise (a pseudonym for author Jack Kerouac).
All of the action is seen through Sal’s eyes, and we
are privy only to his version of events. Because of
this, it is possible to align oneself with Sal, as many
readers do. A main theme threaded throughout the
book is that of society: What constitutes a “society,”
and how does one determine one’s place in it? All of
the characters in the novel struggle with these ques-
tions to some extent, but none more than Sal. The
novel is, in a sense, the story of Sal’s struggle with
where he feels he belongs. Sal’s struggle becomes
synonymous with that of the country itself: “This is
the story of America. Everybody’s doing what they
think they’re supposed to do.”
Sal’s domestic situation in the beginning of the
novel seems to indicate that he has already spent a fair
part of his life contemplating his role in a larger soci-
ety. We are told that he has been married and is only
just recovered from an illness relating to the break-up
of the marriage (no doubt a nod to Kerouac’s own
experience with mental illness). He is at a crossroads