Jack Kerouac s On The Road With Sal Paradise - 1154 Words

Readers spend much of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road with Sal Paradise, the narrator, in his travels throughout the United States trying to escape the rigors of his old life. An issue arises for Paradise because every time he begins to settle down somewhere the place turns old and his desire for movement returns. Paradise’s desire for movement eventually becomes second nature to him. He thrives on the uncertainties of the road and the people he sees only get passing reactions and glances at him from other people on the road. Throughout his journeys, trouble always finds Paradise like when he gets stuck in the mud in Texas with Dean Moriarty and his girlfriend Marylou (149). Paradise falls asleep after freeing the car and wakes with mud caked and stuck to him. No matter where Paradise goes and what he tries, his past always follows him, his mud sticks to him. Kerouac’s novel’s storyline revolves around the journeys of Paradise to escape his past, but non e of the people he meets or sees along the way truly allows for his freedom. Movement becomes necessary for Paradise survive the rigors of the world. Paradise, with Moriarty, could no deal with the rigors of normal, everyday life. Paradise envisioned each city prior to his journeys, but improbability smeared these visions into mere desires. In the beginning, Paradise wanted to go West with the â€Å"Western kinsman of the sun† (7), Moriarty, and to the unknown openness, Paradise envisions. To the narrator, MoriartyShow MoreRelated On the Road: Jack Kerouacs Rejection of the Middle Class American Dream1597 Words   |  7 Pages Jack Kerouac was one of a group of young men who, immediately after the Second World War, protested against what they saw as the blandness, conformity and lack of cultural purpose of middle-class life in America. 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