On the Road: Reading Assignment #3

One important thing that I noticed about this section of the book was how much time the author spent talking about Dean, and trying to emphasize how strongly Sal looked up to him. In my opinion, he spent almost too much time trying to emphasize it. I began to become less interested in Sal the more I got to know about the character, because he became predictable. He is always doing something hip.

Another thing that I picked up on was the importance of the scene where Dean wants to watch Sal make love to Marylou, but when it comes time to, Sal refuses to do it. This in my opinion is conveying a message about being pressured into doing things that you are not comfortable, and being able to stand up for what you believe in. While reading this, I recalled in class when we were talking about Kerouac's life and it was mentioned how he left the military because he wasn't able to shoot a gun. I just was curious if there could be a connection between the two.

A connection that I made between this book and both The Grapes of Wrath and Candide was that they all had a similar philosophical leader within the story. In Candide it was Pangloss, in Grapes it was the Preacher, and in this book, particularly at the beginning of part 2, Dean seems to set him self as the philosophical leader of the novel. So far it was the only aspect of this novel that I began to think was deep at all. And that brings me to another point, which is that this novel doesn't seem deep at all. When reading Grapes, something about the way it is written makes it seem deep and full of emotion, unlike this book, which in my opinion is dull due to its lack of emotion. Other than that, I haven't got any complaints about the book. I find a lot to complain about, but I still enjoy reading it. I find his adventures exciting and peculiar, making them fairly interesting. I look forward to continuing the book.