On The Road
By Jack Kerouac
Sara Levinson
Brooke Norling
Kyle Stewart
Melinda Gravitt
Ben Stillinger
Book Summary
• 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
• 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.
Sal, the
main character
Sal’s roll
• 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
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 looses there
“kick” so he wants to move on a lot.
Sal is Jack Kerouac
The actual journal written by Kerouac is almost identical to On The Road.
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Dean
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
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Carlo
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
Marylou
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Carolyn Cassady
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
Camille
• 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)
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
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
About the author, Jack Kerouac
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.
Early Life
• 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.
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.
Military Life
• He joined the Merchant navy in 1942 and in 1943
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
1943. He lived with his parents in the Ozone Park
neighborhood in New York City.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kerouac Style in On the Road
Colloquialism
• “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
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
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• Paying Attention: When Sal pays attention and
tries to find himself and connections in places
visited
• OR- More simple and brief like Hemingway
• “Humpy in the middle, with soft shoulders and
a ditch on both sides about four feet deep” (p.
25)
• Attention- Poetic prose like Fitzgerald
• “Immense vistas of plains beyond every sad
street…” (p. 25)
• OR- “You never saw a driving fool like that.
He made Tracy in no time.” (p. 80)
• Attention- “A grapy dusk…sun the color of
pressed grapes, slashed with burgundy red,
fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries.”
(p. 80)
Allusion
• “Grim as Job” (p. 29)- Biblical reference, makes
character’s endeavor more significant and personal
• “As W.C. Fields said, ‘Fraught with eminent peril’ and
“Strange, ragged W.C. Fields saintliness of his later days”
(p. 40, 121)- Fields, or his characters, were a contradictory
men, egotistical, chasing the wrong women, comedic who
never defined as funny, and a charming drunks.
• Connects to Dean’s wind aspects and mood swings. Fields
was ID’d as his characters though he himself was not all
those things. Dean is as misunderstood- though he is wild,
that is not all of his personality.
Rhythm
• Also famous for a jazz-style rhythm in
writing, using dashes to replace breaths of a
conversation.
• “Ah, that’s it- that’s it- Dostioffski.”
• “Since Denver, Sal, a lot of things- oh the
things- I’ve thought and thought.”
Connections to other Authors
Fitzgerald’s Rain
• Gatsby- “A huge black knotted tree, whose massed
leaves made a fabric against the rain.” This is the
turning point in the book, when Gatsby meets
Daisy for tea at Nick’s house.
• OTR- “The rain came down in buckets…I walked
into the drizzle…that night it started raining…the
rain drummed on the roof.” Kerouac uses raining
spells as a transition from different places.
Hemingway Sentences
• Like Hemingway in TSAR, Kerouac uses short
sentences to quickly and efficiently covey his point.
• OTR- “So I stayed another day. It was Sunday. It was
a a beautiful day; the sun turned red at three.”
• TSAR- “They expected their money the next day. We
arranged to meet them in Pamplona. They would go
directly to San Sebastian and take a train from there.
We would all meet at the Montoya…”
Hemingway/Fitzgerald Description
• As with sentence form, Kerouac varies his descriptions of
people, depending on their common ground to Sal.
• Dean- “ A young Gene Autry…sideburned hero of the snowy
west…
• Marylou- “Hair like a sea of golden tresses…smoky blue
country eyes…longbodied emaciated Modigliani surrealist
woman”
• Dean is a radical element to Sal, but a magnet in the same way
Nick is attracted to Gatsby
• Marylou is Dean’s sometime girlfriend, and represents taking
apiece of the unknown and trying to make it part of yourself,
as Sal has a fleeting romance with Marylou
Modern Man
• In TSAR, Gatsby, and OTR, the main characters
represent the modern man- reserved from
judgment, impotent, and drawn to the radicals of
society. Sal is drawn to Dean, Nick to Gatsby, and
Jake to Brett. All three realize the meaningless of
the lives they lead and search for meaning in life,
a goal. However, they discover that their
companions define their personalities. In
following the radicals, all have become expatriates
of a sort from American society. Some are in
America leading empty lives, others abroad.
The Beat Generation
• The phrase "Beat Generation" was invented by Jack
Kerouac in 1948.
• The ‘beatness’ Kerouac was describing were not
unintelligent or undisciplined men. They were
‘beat’ because they didn't believe in straight jobs
and had to struggle to survive on their own.
• The term 'beat' has a second meaning: 'beatific' or
sacred and holy. Being a Catholic, Kerouac
explained that by describing his generation as
‘beat’ he was trying to emphasize the secret
holiness of the downtrodden (Dean).
• This is generally the most central theme in
Kerouac's work.
• While 'Beat' described hitchhikers, the homeless and
exhausted proletarians, the term 'Hip' came from 'Hipster,'
which referred to the fancy-dressing, drug dealers and
alcoholic sex-fiend characters that hung around Times Square
at night looking ‘hip’.
• The ‘hipsters’ were the beats in the city, and the ‘beatniks’
were hobos in the country. ‘Hipsters’ turned into ‘Hippies’,
while ‘Beats’ turned into ‘Beatniks’.
The Original Beat Writers
• The Beat Generation in literature was small, the original core group
consisted of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and William
S. Burroughs, who met in uptown Manhattan in the 1940's and are all
depicted as characters in On The Road.
• The original Beat writers influenced many alienated young people to
gather in San Francisco. They acquired the name “Beatniks,” derived
from the ‘beats’ and the Russian space invention Sputnik.
Locations
Starting point = New York City, New York
Bakersfield, California
Patterson, New Jersey (Sal’s residence)
San Francisco, California
Chicago, Illinois
Denver, Colorado
Davenport, Iowa
San Francisco, California
Des Moines
Denver,Colorado
Cheyenne, Oklahoma
Chicago, Illinois
Longmont, Colorado
Detroit, Michigan
Denver, Colorado
New York City, New York
San Francisco, California
Denver, Colorado
Los Angeles, California
San Antonio, Texas
Sabinal, California
Sabinas Hidalgo, Mexico
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gregoria, Mexico
Testament, Virginia
Sierra Madre Mountain Peak,
Mexico
Patterson , New Jersey
New Orleans, Louisiana
El Paso, Texas
Tucson, Arizona
Mexico City, Mexico
New York City, New York
San Francisco, California
The longest highway in the US of A!
Bebop Jazz was a style that showed more emotion.
This music served as an outlet for Kerouac and Sal and
is also a favorite music of the beatniks.
symbolizes an escape from society
After leaving the parties in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, Sal is exposed
to the more relaxing atmosphere
of Longmont, Colorado.
A town full of commotion including
Dean’s numerous sexual partners.
Furthest point west and at the
furthest tip of his journey.
Feels like he is at the end
of the continent
Religious connotation
Incorporating the rest of the world into their life and lifestyle.
Usually, the group does not interact with their surroundings.
Driving naked through Louisiana and
Texas
The only time they do interact with the rest of the
world is when they are in need of something.
In Mexico,
Sal starts to
recognize
reality
hey Jack Kerouac
I think of your mother
and the tears she cried, they were
cried for none other
than her little boy lost in our little
world that hated
and that dared to drag him down
her little boy courageous
who chose his words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
hip flask slinging madman,
steaming cafe flirts
they all spoke through you
hey Jack
now for the tricky part
when you were the brightest
star
who were the shadows?
of the San Francisco beat
boys
you were the favorite
now they sit and rattle their
bones
and think of their blood
stoned days
you chose your words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
the hip flask slinging madman,
steaming cafe flirts
in Chinatown howling at night
Allen baby, why so jaded
have the boys all grown up
and their beauty faded?
Billy, what a saint they've
made you
just like Mary down in
Mexico on All Souls' Day
you chose your words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
cool junk booting madmen,
street minded girls
in Harlem howling at night
what a tear stained shock of the
world
you've gone away without
saying
saying goodbye...
hey Jack Kerouac
I think of your mother
and the tears she cried, they were
cried for none other
than her little boy lost in our little
world that hated
and that dared to drag him down
her little boy courageous
who chose his words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
hip flask slinging madman,
steaming cafe flirts
they all spoke through you
hey Jack
now for the tricky part
when you were the brightest
star
who were the shadows?
of the San Francisco beat
boys
you were the favorite
now they sit and rattle their
bones
and think of their blood
stoned days
you chose your words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
the hip flask slinging madman,
steaming cafe flirts
in Chinatown howling at night
Allen baby, why so jaded
have the boys all grown up
and their beauty faded?
Billy, what a saint they've
made you
just like Mary down in
Mexico on All Souls' Day
you chose your words from
mouths of
babes got lost in the wood
cool junk booting madmen,
street minded girls
in Harlem howling at night
what a tear stained shock of the
world
you've gone away without
saying
saying goodbye...
Allen Ginsberg – Kerouac’s contemporary author and
friend (both erotic and agamous)
San Francisco beat boys – describes the
beatniks written about in Kerouac’s first book
of poems : San Francisco Blues (1954)
Jack Kerouac’s brother,
Gerard, died at an early age
and when Kerouac was four.
He wrote a novel about his
short childhood spent with his
brother called Visions of
Gerard.
After his death, Kerouac lived in his deceased brother’s shadow.
“I’m not a beatnik; I’m a Catholic!”
Kerouac’s death, caused
by cirrhosis of the liver
(resulting from excessive
drinking) was
unanticipated.
First time musicians
improvised (bebop)
Connotation of freedom
Minton's Playhouse – birthplace of bop
Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge &
Teddy Hill