Jack Kerouac And The Beat Movement

hu valetkind War II marked a big dividing line between the old and the new in American society and the nations literature(The World watch elegant encyclopaedia 427) . When sphere War II ignore at that place was a pent up go for that had been postp integrityd due to the war. space war America brought ab better a measure when it seemed that e truly(prenominal) young man was doing the like thing, getting a job, remittal down and starting a family. America was becoming a nation of consumers. virtuoso company that was against con wee-weeing to this dull American purportstyle was referred to as depleteniks. The beat or Beatniks condemned middle class American aliveness as chastely bankrupt. They praised individualism as the highest human tendency(The World parole Encyclopedia 428). This perspective was present in poetry and literature by out the beat movement. One of the most cardinal works produced during the beat movement was mickle Kerouacs On The road. In the novel sea pawl Kerouacs alter self Sal Paradise represents the American man who realizes he doesnt penury to conform to societies pressures but console hasnt realized what it is fair now he wants to do. He is a man who has very fiddling direction and is very ofttimes lost in the world as he knows it. Kerouac seems to be constantly stressful to parry. In examining the novel cardinal office wonder what is Kerouac escaping and by what delegacy does he do so? Kerouac using upd two factor of escape through out the novel and through out his life. His first marrow of escape was his constant travel. He travelled from eastern hemisphere to west, innovative York to San Francisco and stopped everywhere in between. He made this strip over and over, constantly on the road. The bare(a) title of the novel exemplifies Kerouacs ongoing need to travel. When he and his friends got tried of traveling east to west they traveled wedlock to south, driving every last(predicate )(prenominal) the drug necessitateer down! to Mexico City. His travels gave him the opportunity to be an outsider with no worries. He was able to watcher and chance upon all that there was to support throughout the region. While jaunt across the states, staying in littler towns for no more than a few nights, Kerouac was able to perplex a life with no commitment or responsibility. raze if he was to arouse any(prenominal) sort of commitment to one of his umpteen girls a tenacious the way, it wasnt unlike him to just pick up and leave. After all the only thing people almost seemed to know round him was that he liked to drinking. This leads to the some other form of escape Kerouac used, the adaption of reality. Kerouac would mentally alter his perception of reality through the use of drugs and alcohol. I was getting drunk and didnt deal; everything was fine(Kerouac 35). To him everything in life was fine as long as he was drunk. He was starting signal to drink heavily, and to drink whisky and gin instead of jus t beer (Nicosia 96). That was only the beginning of his disillusionment. red cent began taking benzedrine and smoking cannabis(Nicosia 102). Having the means by which he escapes, the question still ashes what is Kerouac difficult to escape? In order to understand this we essential explore somewhat of jack ups personalised issues. A issue concerning Kerouac that is very a great deal eluded to but neer really spoken somewhat in On The Road is his possible homoeroticism. While gob never actually came out most his sexuality, his jam friends would often witness dumps participation in fadeless rounds of sex with some(prenominal) men and women(Nicosia 102). Kerouacs homosexual tendencies caused an preponderant psychological counterpoint: Kerouac was funny but despised homosexuals. Jack talked incessantly about all the big old fags he knew(Nicosia 493). Even though Kerouac would have homosexual encounters, he mat up a private guilt over his homosexual feelings. In an s tart out to ease his guilt Jack would denounce quirk! , say that gay sex is non in my line(Nicosia 142). Jack was plain dishonored of his homosexual experiences and fought all his life against the pass judgment cut across(Nicosia 154). In 1945, he wrote a letter to on the wholeen Ginsberg trying to resolve the issue of his possible homosexuality. He stated that the imbruted aspects of gay sex were disgusting; and though the desire for it talent exist in his subconscious, there was no way of abide by that for sure(Nicosia 142). His apologetic tone in the letter showed that counterbalance though Kerouac wasnt entirely sure of his sexual identity, he still felt guilty that the mere thought of homosexuality had entered his feelings.

This persistent guilt for his constant homosexual needs at long last affected his ability to sustain close relationships. Kerouacs sad ability to maintain relationships is evident through out his life as well as in On The Road. All through the novel, Kerouac along with Cassady, would always be chasing down one girl or trying to make another. This very much mirrored his real life where Kerouac marital three times. Jacks first wife, Frankie Edith Parker, ended the wed because of jacks relentless adultery. Kerouacs next spousal relationship was to Joan Haverty Kerouac, who eventually ended the marriage saying they had made a commitment to the marriage but not to each other(Charters 357). His third and closing wife was Stella Sampas Kerouac, who was told by Jack on his death bed, Stella, I love you for only the second time since they had been married. The fact that Jack couldnt commit himself to one woman a t a time shows his insecurity and doubtfulness towar! ds his sexuality. This uncertainty shows that Jack is obviously unsure about himself. It may just be that all of Kerouacs running and bingeing throughout the country was actually an dispatch to find himself. All his life he may not have been escaping but rather discovering. Kerouac unavoidable to see the way the rest of America was in an parturiency to find what he was.The human experience is about self-discovery. It is a universal melodic theme which Kerouac draws upon in his classic beat work On the Road , Kerouac simply recorded this trip at a turn of events point in America. Bibliography Nicosia, Gerald. computer storage Babe: A precise Biography of Jack Kerouac. cutting York: Grove Press Inc., 1983. Charters, Ann. Kerouac: A Biography. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1973. Cassady, Carolyn. slay The Road: My Years With Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990. Zeleny, Robert O. The World Book Encyclopedia:Volume A. Chicago : World Book, Inc., 1988 Kerouac, Jack. On The Road. New York: Viking Press, 1958. lecture: 1015 If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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