Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" captures the essence of the United States in a manner that has never been accomplished before because his disjointed and arbitrary travels mimic the complex and almost incomprehensible experience that is America, filled with the people and places, both famous and obscure. The author points out that Kerouac rolls through the countryside creating memories, connected directly his relationship with his friends; thus the theme, which pulls the novel together, is that the vast expanses of the United States are characterized by the people within them. The paper relates that the novel makes America real because, unlike other novels about this country "On the Road " does not appear to have any ideology aside from existence: "We are here. We are alive."

From the Paper:

"Another symbol of beauty and pure emotion is music. Music is like America: they both are meaningless if there is not a human being there to experience them. Jazz, however, not only reflects America, but it reflects a rebellious aspect of America. In your time it remained a subculture; looked down upon by the social elite, the conservative, and the racists. Sal and Dean are unconcerned with all of these connotations. Specifically what appeals to Sal is the raw emotion; the idea that a trumpet player can most accurately express his emotion by hitting random, unplanned, and almost arbitrary notes. Dean becomes completely lost in the music. He believes he can feel exactly what the musician is feeling and at exactly the same moment."

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