Heather

​//On the Road// Jack Kerouac 

Summary chapters 1-3

The book starts with the main character/narrator, Sal,a writer, describing how he came to mee his friend Dean for the first time. Dean had just married Marylou. Sal seems to have a bit of a hero worship for Dean and describes how he resembles "a young Gene Autry". Sal then begins his long-winded descrption of how Dean is the "most fantastic parking-lot attendant in the world." Eventuly, Sal and Dean end up going out to New York where they meet up with their friend Carlo Marx. They share intlectual conversation. Then, spring arrives, which Sal describes as "the great time of traveling." Dean is headed off to Denver to start writing. As a writer himself, Sal wishes to follow Dean to learn from him. In July 1947,having saved about fifty dollars, Sal heads for the West Coast. He heads north though with no apperant plan and ends up down-hearted in a rain storm forty miles north of New York instead of somewhere west like he intedted to be. After feeling sorry for himself for a period of time, Sal finds a bus station and hops on one headed for Chicago. Sal stays in Chicago for a day then heads to Iowa, via a middle-age women who "wanted someone to help her drive to Iowa." Upon arrival in Davenport, Iowa, Sal heads to bus station to devour some apple pie and ice cream, the only meal he plans to eat on his journey. He then hiches with a truckdriver to Iowa City. He meets another trucker and heads to Des Moines. In Des Moines, he meets Eddie, another hitchhiker headed for Denver. Sal takes an instant liking to Eddie. The two travel to Ohmaha, where Sal meets his first cowboy. The cowboy joins the duo on their journey westward. Once the trio reaches Grand Island, the cowboy leaves Sa l and Eddie to met up with his wife. A random old man then picks up Sal and Eddie for unknown reasons and takes them to Shelton. Eddie recalls being in Shelton before the war and takes a trip down memory lane. A man with a trailor stos and tells the two he can only tak one of them with him. Eddie jumps on the oppurtunity, and without further ado, abondons Sal. A young man then picks Sal up and says he can take him "a hundred miles up the line." The man explains how he use to hitchhike. so he "always picks a fellow up." He finally lets Sal off outside the town of Gothenburg.

Character Sketch (Protagnist-Sal) It's hard to genarlize the character that is Sal Paradise. His thinking appears to be erratic. He travels around the country somewhat aimlessly and thinks he's invincible. He treats most women rudely, yet he is very kind and considerate towards a hobo. Most men seem to enjoy Sal as a drinking buddy, but most women seem to view him as a bit creepy because, even though he chases excessive amounts of women, he only is able to seduce one.

Summary chapters 4-14 Sal begins to describe what was the "greatest ride in his life". The "greatest ride" consisted of a random group of seven guys who enjoyed peeing off a truck. On of the men is a nice hobo that Sal befriends. Finally, Sal reaches his destination of Denver. In Denver, he meets up wiht Chad King and discovers that his old crew is no longer friends with Dean and Carlo. He ends up meeting with Carlo who informs him that Dean is busy sleeping with two different women, Marylou and Camille. Sal and Carlo decide to visit Dean. They burst in and find him naked with Camille. Dean shoos them out and says he will meet up with them later. The trio has a wild time, but Sal starts to realize how cut off from the group Sal and Carlo are. Later, Sal meets up with Remi Boncoeur in "Frisco". Remi has a resentful lover named Lee Ann. Remi and Sal become cops, but end up quitting before they're fired for not arresting enough people. Sal begins to long for the East and decides to head back to New York. He stops in LA first though and meets Teresa. The two become lovers and decide to hitchike to Sabinal, her hometown, and move into her brother's garage. Tersea's son Johnny now enters the picture. Sal treats him as if he were his son. Sal gets a job picking cotton, but eventully the pull of the East is too much and he departs for New York again.

Symbols Cigarette/Smoking- The ritual between Jed and Daniel of smoking only one cigarette together is symbolic of their love for eachother and how unique of a bond it is that they share. Holden Caulfield- Holden stands as symbol of the distress between Tyler and Jill's relationship. Jill is obsession with __Catcher and the Rye__ is much stronger than her love for Tyler. Pot- Clara's quest to get drugs for her mother symbolizes the deep amount of love and careing she has for her mother. She is willing to risk her perfect record for her mom's well-being. Quilt- Anne's grandmother's quilts acts as a symbol of Anne's innoncence. If anything should happen to damage the quilt, it would be like her innocence being tainted.

Conflict __Person vs. Person__ Elizabeth vs. Cara- Cara makes fun of Elizabeth, which leads Elizabeth to hit Cara in the face with a lunch tray. Charlotte vs. Cara- Charlotte writes phrases on the wall that Cara thinks are direct attacks on herself. This leads to an ugly confrontation between the two. Tyler vs. Jill- Tyler desires to have a deeper relationship with Jill but she does not share his feelings. Daniel vs. Pete- Daniel and Pete's relationship is faltering because Pete can not fully accept Daniel's sexual orientation. __Person vs. Society__ Anton vs. Society- Almost the entire school is cruel to Anton because he is different. __Person vs. Self__ Mary vs. Self- Mary is constantly struggling against her own perception of her self. This leads to her battle against anorexia. Lily vs. Self- Lily finds herself in a constant struggle against her depressive moods.

__What elements make this a good book?__ One literary element that made this a "good" book was the excellent diction used in Lily's section of the book. It was enjoyable to read words such as roustabout, rhapsodic, and copacetic. Words such as these really spiced up the book. Another element that made this a "good" book was the wide range of teenagers represented throughout the entire novel. Though it would be nearly impossible to fully reprsent every end of the teenage spectrum, this book comes closer than a lot of other texts I have stumbled upon. It was refreshing to read a book that had more than just one group of teens presented. __What would make this book better?__ One element that would make this book better would be for it to be a tad longer. Since the book was written in free verse, a full page was hardly ever filled. This made the book shorter than it looked. __What is the most important thing the author wants you to know?__ The theme of the book is that we are all connected. The whole book was about connections. All stories wove together seemlessly because all the characters were some how connected to one another. The goth kid was connected to the popular kid. Every person is somehow connected to everyone else. __Whad does the auidence need to know to understand and enjoy the book?__ The audience needs to know that all the students in the book are attending the same school. Without this knowledge, the reader won't be able to make all the connections present between the characters because they would be confused asto how everyone knew eachother. __What is your overall recommendation?__ I would highly recoomend this book. Almost any student will be able to find themselves somewhere in the pages of this novel. Beside the element of realatability, the book is just overall a truly enjoyable read. It is hard to not get wrapped up in the trimuphs and tribulations of the 20 main characters.