The Beat Generation
When Sal began his journey on the road, he was a young writer with nothing to lose. He had no plans set for the future of his life and could do whatever he wanted to. Life had been extremely dull for him in the past and it wasn't until he met Dean Moriarty when anything drastically changed in his life. Sal begins a journey in which he attempts to become more and more in tune with himself and tries to discover his inner soul. He says, "Somewhere along the line I knew there'd be girls, visions, everything; somewhere along the line the pearl would be handed to me." (Kerouac, 8) Through his endeavor, Sal was able to gain a better perspective on his life, and turn his life into something positive that had much promise for the future. In the beginning of the novel, Sal seems somewhat weakened and depressed. He's a grown man but continues to reside in his aunt's house, spending much of his time writing at home. Him and his wife had just split up and he says, "I had just gotten over a serious illness that I won't bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up and my feeling that everything was dead." (Kerouac, 1) He never actually discloses what this illness that he speaks of actually is, but
Sal completely turns around his life through his journeys on the road. He goes from leading a dreary, depressed life in New Jersey, having absolutely no thought for the future, to being a person with happiness in his life and much promise for the future. In a way, his journeys on the road saved his life. Although good things were seen in the future for Sal, fiction did not turn to reality as Kerouac continued to live a life of despair that eventually led to his death. Through all this constant movement across the country, Sal encounters a myriad of colorful characters, shifting environments, and more importantly, personal development. As Sal moves along across the country, he observes all things going around him, the people he meets, and the surroundings he's in. This plays a big part into Sal's overall success of his journey. He is able to learn more about himself and get a better glimpse of who he actually is by moving and interacting in different environments. In the beginning of the novel, Sal is very open to do anything and doesn't have much emotion in life. He has no set blueprint to follow to achieve this Zen or to find his inner soul but instead plans on gaining it through his experience on the road. By the end of the novel, it is easy to see that his journey is well over and that he has co
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Approximate Word count = 883
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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