1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
CHS-Eng. 201/AP Lit.
Spring 2017

2. Book Summary… Without Giving It All Away

3. Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty = thrill-seeking travelers
back and forth across the United States
based on Kerouac’s own life in the late 1940’s
heavily influenced by his friend Neal Cassady
inspired by real-life events.
Dean is a reform school escapee who specializes in stealing cars and acts as Sal’s mentor.
automobile = the chariot, always keeping Sal and Dean on the road

4. Dean’s madness is apparent throughout the novel, as is his ability to do whatever he pleases.
drug of choice = liquor
rural wilderness, sleepy small towns, urban jungles, and endless deserts
Women
Dean treats everyone terribly
Sal, however, always forgives Dean, seeing him as a god- like hero, no matter what he does.

5. Sal, the main character

6. Sal’s Role His full name is Salvatore Paradise.
He is the first person narrator of the book.
He travels from coast to coast hitchhiking and driving with Dean.
He and Dean both learn and thrive off each others different skills.
"I began to learn from him as much as he learned from me." Part 1, Chapter 1, page 7

7. Qualities He is very restless and is always on the move.
He always has to have something new and exiting.
He gets board easily, and towns that he thought would be fun quickly loses “kick” so he wants to move on a lot.

8. Sal=Jack Kerouac
The novel is almost identical to what Kerouac wrote in his Journal

9. Dean Moriarty Neal Cassady Main protagonist
Sexually active, many lovers
3 wives: Marylou, Camille, and Inez
Father of 2 children
Seen as the epic hero of the novel
Spent time in prison
Obsession with the road
Free spirited, reluctant to tie his spirit to social demands
Self-centered, little respect for other characters
Doesn’t put forth much effort towards his marriages
In search of his father throughout the novel

10. Carlo Marx Allen Ginsberg Sal’s closest friend in the city
Fixated with Dean in the beginning of the novel
Friends look up to him
Writes fantastic and often mad poetry
Plays jazz
Often found in basement apartments in either Denver or New York
Matures throughout the novel
Sensual and energetic
Presents advice to Sal and Dean, represents a replacement in the absence of paternity

11. Marylou LuAnne Henderson Dean’s first wife
Left by Dean for Camille (Dean’s second wife)
Dean comes back for her in Denver after leaving San Francisco
For a while, it seems as though Sal is Marylou’s “man”
Eventually apparent that she is only interested in Dean
Becomes a prostitute for awhile
Ends up marrying a used-car salesman

12. Camille Carolyn Cassady
First Dean’s mistress, then becomes his second wife
Mother of Dean’s two children
The woman with whom Dean cheated on Marylou!
Live together in San Francisco
Camille becomes very emotional and volatile near the end of the relationship
Dean leaves her for Inez (Dean’s third wife)

13. Ed William S. Burroughs Friend of Sal and Dean
Marries Galatea so that she will come with them across the country and pay for the trip
He ditches her at a hotel and on many other repeated occasions
Ultimately returns to her every time

14. Terry Sal meets Terry on a bus ride and they fall in love
From a family of Mexican migrant workers and is separated from her husband who beats her
Sal and Terry live together for several months
They finally part and never see each other again
Sal often thinks back to his time with Terry and greatly misses her

15. About the Author, Jack Kerouac

16. Early Life
Born on March 12, 1922 with the name Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac, in Lowell, Massachusetts.
His family was French-Canadian and his parents were Leo-Alcide Kerouac and Gabrielle-Ange Lévesque, they were natives of the province of Quebec in Canada.

17. Early Life Continued
He didn't start to learn English until he was six because at home, he and his family spoke Quebec French.
At an early age he was traumatized by the death of his elder brother Gérard, this event later prompted him to write the book Visions of Gerard.

18. Education
His athletic abilities led him to become a star on his local football team. He later earned football scholarships to Boston College and Columbia University.
He went to Columbia University after spending the scholarship's required year at Horace Mann School.
He broke a leg playing football during his freshman year at Columbia. This injury made it difficult to fulfill his scholarship obligations.
He could not continue at Columbia without the scholarship, so he went to live with a previous girlfriend Edie Parker in New York.

19. Military Life
He joined the Merchant navy in 1942 and in joined the United States Navy. He was discharged during World War II on psychiatric grounds because he was of "indifferent disposition".
In between his sea voyages, he stayed in New York City with friends from Fordham University in The Bronx.
After he was discharged from the U.S. Navy in He lived with his parents in the Ozone Park neighborhood in New York City.

20. City Life
In New York Kerouac met the people with whom he journeyed around the world, they were also the subjects of many of his novels.
Jack and his friends were part of the so-called Beat Generation, including Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, John Clellon Holmes, Herbert Huncke, and William S. Burroughs.
The Beat Generation was a group of American writers who came to New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were an underground, anti- conformist youth group. This was all part of the counter culture of the fifties and sixties.

21. Writing
He wrote constantly but could not find a publisher for his novel for six years.
Using previous drafts titled "The Beat Generation" and "Gone On The Road", he wrote what is now known as On the Road in April, 1951.
It took him 3 weeks to complete the entire book.
Publishers rejected the book because of its experimental writing style and sympathetic tone towards minorities and marginalized social groups of the United States in the 1950s.
In 1957, Viking Press purchased the novel, had to make major revisions.

22. After the Book
In July 1957, He moved to a small house on Clouser Ave. in the College Park section of Orlando, Florida.
He was waiting for the release of On the Road.
A few weeks later, the review appears in the New York Times saying that Kerouac was the voice of a new generation.
He was hailed as a major American writer, and as the voice of the Beat Generation.

23. Death
He died on October 21, 1969 at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.
His death, at the age of 47, resulted from an internal hemorrhage caused by cirrhosis of the liver.
The major cause of the illness was a life of heavy drinking.
At the time he was living with his third wife Stella, and his mother Gabrielle.
He was buried in his home town of Lowell.

24. Some Key styles in Kerouac
Colloquialisms
-“Jalopy” (p. 1)- cheap car circa 1950
-“Cold-Water Pad” (p.1)- cheap apartment where there is no hot water
-“Dingledodies” (p. 5)- idiots
-“Ball that Jack” (p. 17)- drive in a hurry, pedal to the metal

25. Description Switches
-On Road and Flying: When Sal is on the road he is following the will of others like Dean, and caught up in the energy
vs.
-Paying Attention: When Sal pays attention and tries to find himself and connections in places visited

26. Locations Starting point = New York City, New York
Patterson, New Jersey (Sal’s residence)
Chicago, Illinois
Davenport, Iowa
Des Moines
Cheyenne, Oklahoma
Longmont, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
San Francisco, California
Los Angeles, California
Sabinal, California
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Testament, Virginia
Patterson , New Jersey
New Orleans, Louisiana
El Paso, Texas
Tucson, Arizona
Bakersfield, California
San Francisco, California
Denver, Colorado
Denver,Colorado 
Chicago, Illinois
Detroit, Michigan
New York City, New York 
San Antonio, Texas
Sabinas Hidalgo, Mexico 
Gregoria, Mexico
Sierra Madre Mountain Peak, Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico
New York City, New York

27. Route 6- Longest Highway in the US