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Feeling that Road
Them BeatsOne day I came home to find my worn copy of On the Road missing from the sacred spot that it holds on my shelf. A week or so later my mom knocked on my door and handed me the book that she had borrowed. I asked her how she liked, it to which she replied, “It’s sad that some people have to live that way and make themselves believe their happy.”
On the Road has been viewed since it premier largely grouped into two separate categories. There is the idea of it being a sort of battle cry for young people to rebel against the institutions that are forcing them to conform and giving them a set view of happiness in the form of the American dream. And there is the view the novel is a depressing tail of confused youth looking for happiness and meaning in wrong places and living a life free of moral obligation and full of immediate gratifications. The divides between those that embrace the novel and those that denounce it, are often seen as a split between people in different stages of their life. Many of those in the later category of opinion are quick to denounce the Kerouac and those of his generation as amoral and view the entire book as a sad tale of unhappiness mistaken for happiness. They are quick to judge with their narrow view of the world and without the context and circumstances in which the book lives and inspires.
The genius of On the Road lies in the timeless struggle to find meaning and significance in a confusing and brutal world. In the wake of World War II concluded with the dropping of atomic bomb they dared to rebel against the values of a society with no regard for innocent human life. Rejecting America’s obsession with money and success, they look to the road to find an alternative, spiritual “American Dream.” They were outcasts to begin with and to fake it and pretend to be a part of society was not possible. Maybe they there is no happiness in substance use and constant thrill seeking, but what’s the point being happy if it means compromising the desires to live. On the Road was just a stage in the life of Kerouac; all his work has a different feel to it that reflects Kerouac’s own spiritual evolution. Indeed all the beats were constantly questioning their ideas and experimenting with the taboo in a way pervaded to their readers the importance standing up to authority. In subsequent decades the conservative values largely shift to the left as the inspired counterculture movements caused ground breaking changes in regards to rights for racial minorities and gay Americans. The beginning of the environmental movement can also be linked to the values of the Beats and those they inspired. On the Road encapsulates the values of a generation that refused to believe that middle class conformity was the key to happiness and lead a subsequent generations to question their values and always be looking for something better whatever that means.
I definitely tend to agree
I definitely tend to agree with your view of the book. When I talked about the two ways the book is viewed and meant in our society as a whole and not that these are not the only two viewpoints, it didn't come out the way I intended. From my experience there are those that over romantize the book and those that dismiss it as justification for deliquency. What I personal took from it was the ability to relate to the characters search for knowledge through experience overall. But I don't feel any need to take to the road or mimick the actions of the characters in anyway.
I definitely tend to agree
I definitely tend to agree with your view of the book. When I talked about the two ways the book is viewed and meant in our society as a whole and not that these are not the only two viewpoints, it didn't come out the way I intended. From my experience there are those that over romantize the book and those that dismiss it as justification for deliquency. What I personal took from it was the ability to relate to the characters search for knowledge through experience overall. But I don't feel any need to take to the road or mimick the actions of the characters in anyway.
There aren't only two ways to see this book.
Although I agree that usually On the Road is either seen as a sort of guidebook for those who would like to rebel against authority or as a depressing read about lost college dropouts searching for meaning in life, when I read it I didn’t really feel either way. Maybe its because I find it similar to a lot of other novels I’ve read in the way that the characters feel, or because I find the character’s feeling similar to how I feel. Also, I can’t forget that they were writers and artists too, they weren’t just aimlessly wandering, they were learning from their experiences and recording them. Despite the fact that I relate to them, I wouldn’t copy the characters’ actions. It just didn’t have that big of an effect on me. I respect it as a book and don’t find it sad, shallow or pretentious but at the same time don’t find it very inspirational.