Final writing Test-part B

The beat generation had a great revolutionary impact on modern society, especially concerning freedom. An entire generation demanded peace and was careless about the consequences, they were free spirits. Jack Kerouack was one of the pioneers in that movement. His novel On the Road, published in 1957, reflects the ideals of this generation. The author shows the importance of freedom through the eyes of his characters.He tempts to change the vision of America towards the black people, he uses Sal, the narrator who discovers the road, to get the readers to live through his eyes. Dean also characterizes freedom by his liberal thinking and freedom is expressed through him and Sal.


First, the rights of the African-American people are ignored by the Americans in that period, still considering them as slaves. However, the characters in the book have no prejudice against them and they want to hang around them, knowing they will have a good time. At one point, Sal is tortured by his existence and wishes he could be a black man, because he thinks it's quite dull to be a white man. A white man saying that is pretty much ironic, since they are the ones with the most respect. However, Sal being a child of the revolution, he doesn't care about respect and notoriety and only wants to have fun.  The irony is espacially noticeable in this quotation; ''(...) wishing I were a Negro, feeling that the best the white world had offered was not enough ecstacy for me, not enough life, joy, kicks, darkness, music, not enough night.'' p.179. Clearly, the author wants to criticize and mock the american way of thinking by picking the opposite side of conventional ideas. Therefore, Kerouak uses Sal to break prejudice and racism of the era.

Secondly, Dean is described as a free spirit who does anything he wants to do. Being an ex-convict, freedom is priceless to him and is probably the most important value for him. He refuses to be held back by rules. He steals cars, have mistresses, takes drugs and drinks. He is the one that influences Sal in being careless about life and only enjoy the present. At one point in the novel, he starts using the expression IT to qualify freedom and wisdom. When he talks about perseverance and liberty, there is an imagery to express the importance of freedom to Sal's mind; ''(...) I also had a vision of myself on a white horse riding alongside over every possible obstacle that presented itself(...)'' p.209. This vision is from his childhood and proves that he had always wanted to be free. The imagery implies that he is a kind of knight defending his pride and freedom. Then again, Kerouak puts emphasis on freedom, as for the characters visions.

To conclude, Jack kerouak uses the liberal spirit of his characters and the condition of Arican-American to expose the importance of freedom. The book was really controversial when it first got published because it involved shocking themes and situations. Even if the book is less shocking these days, it still approaches a modern identity to relate to. Let's never forget the beat generation.

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