Zen and the Art of Motorcycle

A detailed Summary of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle

When Robert Pirsig wrote the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," his underlying theme was a little more complex then what it may appear on the exterior surface. For an average reader, the book may seem to be a simple seventeen-day journey of a father and son across the country, along with a great deal of philosophy woven in between. If you aren't careful enough in reading it, you might miss the whole objective that Pirsig tries to implicate. However, if you can analyze deeper and look past the false storyline, you will find that the book contains a whole mirage of ideas and elaborate theories on life and the world within it. It is a search for truth, and understanding of knowledge at its highest. The narrator and his son are simple puppets used to string along the underlying themes that Pirsig is trying to get across. Within these "puppets" you will find the true meaning of the story depicted through Pirsig's metaphoric use of imagery.

In the narrators journey across the country he falsely sets out for a peaceful motorcycle drive with his son and his friends. However, along the path he is faced with brief flashbacks down memory lane. As "Phaedrus" slips in and out of his mind, he

In many areas throughout the book Pirsig refers to the mountains and the wind. In one specific quote he refers to the mountaintop as being cold. "Deweese: You know how cold it is up there. You used to spend all your time up there." (142). In this Deweese is metaphorically comparing the coldness of the mountains to the complex ideas that no one but Phaedrus seems to have. On top of a mountain the temperature does drop, as well as the fact that there are few people up there. Pirsig is implying that there are few people who can relate and understand Phaedrus' ideas in the quest for truth and knowledge. Therefore, up in the mountains, it is cold and lonely. This also compares to the previous analogy of the mountains, and the hierarchy chart. At the top of the mountain there are few people, just as at the peak of a chart there are few with the complete understanding of knowledge and truth.

Looking at a mountain, you can see its familiar shape of a triangle. It starts wide, and then peaks to the top in a point. Pirsig metaphorically places philosophy, or truth, at the top of this mountain, symbolizing the highest understanding of each. He calls it "the high country of the mind." At the top of the mountain, there is no more knowledge, nothing above it. It is the farthest you can go. This sort of mapping is also familiar in another triangle

Some common words found in the essay are:
Truth Phaedrus, Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig, top mountain, pirsig tries, forms imagery, bottom chart, understanding knowledge, top chart, complete understanding, country mind, hierarchy chart, truth phaedrus,

Approximate Word count = 914
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle

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