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Saturday, March 23, 2019

The Search for Self and Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road :: On The Road essays

 Quest for Identity in On the Road                  In Jack Kerouacs novel On the Road, the precedent tries to convey to the audience that everybody is naturally dishonest and morally deceitful. Morals ar defined by ones religion, the laws of the country, or some combination of the two. Ones identity captures and plays off that individuals moral. My morals follow the Christian beliefs, Texas state laws, and the laws of the join States. Although ones own morals kitty change, basic things such as take and murder are wrong and illegal by federal law. many characters performed many acts proving this lay such as Montana Slim, who says in state to take up silver, follow a man down an alley and hock him, or Dean, who never feels remorse for beating Mary Lou after a fight. These along with other characters display such actions that show that everyone is morally deceitful. In Part 1, Chapter 4, Sal tells Montan a Slim that he only has enough money to buy some whiskey. Slim says to Sal, I know where you can get some.Where?Anywhere. You can always folly a man down an alley, cant you? ...I aint beyond doing it when I really need some dough. (27) At this early point in the novel, Sal is still figuring out who he is and what life is comparable on the road. He seems like a young naive schoolboy universe bullied by an older, wiser kid. Slim knows what he is talking about because he has been on the road for some time now. He has probably robbed quite a few people throughout his experience on the road. This act is, by law, wrong and dishonest. In Part 2, chapter 6, while Dean, Mary Lou, Ed Dunkel, and Sal stop at a gas station on the way to impudently Orleans, Dunkel casually steals three packs of cigarettes. The way the narrator says it is that he stole them without however trying. He then justifies it by saying that they were fresh out (139). The row used is just so non-chalant, as if ste aling was no prominent deal. stealing, like robbing, is illegal and morally wrong. The part that is most disturbing is that Dunkel feels that stealing cigarettes is okay, that it is necessary for survival just like food or water. Stealing food or water in order to survive can be justified, but not cigarettes.

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