1 Alyson Morris PR 441-02 3/17/17 On the Road Analysis Jack Kerouac’s On the Roadis titled perfectly as his characters travel in all across America in pursuit of a goal. This book shows themes of friendship, freedom, coming of age and the true meaning of IT. This book is also a great example of the Beat Generation. This whole book is about searching for a meaning and a purpose. For example, one of Kerouac’s main characters, Sal Paradise, hitchhikes, takes the bus, and drives cars on his journey to find some value to his boring and tiresome life. The main gist of this classic novel is traveling to find yourself, who you are and who you want to be. On the Roadstarts off in 1947, with Sal Paradise as the narrator. Sal is a writer from New Jersey who is struggling with his work and newly divorced. He feels he has lost his sense of purpose and is searching for something to remind him how needed he actually is and fill the void. Sal hangs out with a group of guys from NYC. One of the guys in the group Sal was very fascinated by, his name was Dean Moriarty. The first time Dean and Sal met they instantly became friends. The spark in their friendship contributes to Sal’s inability to sit back and relax. Dean had moved to Denver with his wife Marylou and he and Sal had been writing back and forth and finally Sal decided it was time to travel and go visit his friend. Sal went to Denver to visit his friends and then took some time to venture off to California to visit an old friend, Remi.
