irresponsibility

I don’t particularly grasp the aesthetic of travel that On the Road offers readers. When I look into Kerouac’s world of exploration and adventure, I don’t feel compelled to go on my own journey – in fact, more often than not, I feel frustrated or angry at the characters as they continue moving along the path of life with no regard to anybody apart from themselves. Sure, Sal shows some sense of responsibility with the money he sends back home to his aunt, but I find that his actions stem more from guilt that he left her to travel with people she so blatantly does not approve of. Dean Moriarty, on the other hand, for all of experiences and “wisdom” of the road seems more of an immature child than all of the characters. It seems as if he is purely hedonistic, living for what will bring him the most pleasure and avoids pain. Dean runs whenever things become too serious for his liking, and when he runs, he is capable of abandoning friends, family, and anybody else he might’ve claimed to be close to. As Marylou tells Sal sullenly, “Dean will leave you out in the cold any time it’s in his interest” (Kerouac 159).

I can’t even bring myself to consider Sal and Dean’s relationship to be that of true friendship. From what I can discern, Sal acts like Dean’s pet dog, barking for scraps and attention whilst Dean is usually too distracted or just plain crazy to attend to Sal. From the very beginning, when Dean and Carlo hit it off, Sal recalls, “they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me…” (5). Once I discerned what I found to be their true relationship, I couldn’t be bothered to respect or admire Dean at all because in truth, the world we live in is based off of how people treat each other, and a person like Dean isn’t worth following. Dean is the type of person who takes and takes what he needs from a person before moving on, displayed through his relationships with Sal, Camille, Marylou, Ed Dunkel, and more.

I’m not averse to the ideal that in traveling, one has the capability of self-discovery and adventure. What I do take issue with is traveling in order to escape from issues back home. Sal is the type to leave and then complain of his troubles back home whilst Dean completely disregards his responsibilities. “Troubles, you see, is the generalization-word for what God exist in. The thing is not to get hung-up. My head rings!” (111). I can’t decide which is worse. The fact that Dean so completely immerses himself in the delusion that he can get through life scot-free without caring about anybody except for himself, or the fact that Sal knowingly leaves behind the people he is meant to take care of and does nothing substantial to help them. There are too many loose ends left behind by the two of them for me to really empathize with their troubles or even admire their triumphs. Instead, all I can do is view them, as well as their merry band of men (and replaceable source of women) as individuals that never manage to see anything other than their own possible happiness.