Read chapters 3 & 4 and respond to the following prompts to the best of your ability. Be aware of your language, use evidence from the text, display analysis, and cite when required.
Chapter 3
1. How is the diction in the first paragraph representative of the Beat Generation? Use a quote as support.
2. Kerouac says the Mississippi River has a "rank smell that smells like the raw body of America itself" (13). Is this a compliment or criticism?
3. As Kerouac watches people drive home on pg. 14 he realizes something. What is it? How did we see this talked about in my thesis?
4. How does Kerouac celebrate the truck driver on pg. 14? Use a quote as support. How does this explain his thoughts on blue collar folk?
5. All this travel is super fun and exciting. But it's also taxing. Find one quote to support this observation.
6. There's a biting line about what America has become on pg. 17. Cite it.
7. There are several examples of Kerouac comparing himself with tourists in this chapter. Find one and cite it. Why does he do this? Isn't he a tourist?
8. Kerouac kisses his "shirt good-by" and is not fussed at the loss (21). What does this say about his take on materialism?
Chapter 4
1. Bring to class, on paper, 3 quotes that represent Kerouac's unique style and pace as a writer. They will probably be relatively lengthy.
Chapter 3
1. How is the diction in the first paragraph representative of the Beat Generation? Use a quote as support.
2. Kerouac says the Mississippi River has a "rank smell that smells like the raw body of America itself" (13). Is this a compliment or criticism?
3. As Kerouac watches people drive home on pg. 14 he realizes something. What is it? How did we see this talked about in my thesis?
4. How does Kerouac celebrate the truck driver on pg. 14? Use a quote as support. How does this explain his thoughts on blue collar folk?
5. All this travel is super fun and exciting. But it's also taxing. Find one quote to support this observation.
6. There's a biting line about what America has become on pg. 17. Cite it.
7. There are several examples of Kerouac comparing himself with tourists in this chapter. Find one and cite it. Why does he do this? Isn't he a tourist?
8. Kerouac kisses his "shirt good-by" and is not fussed at the loss (21). What does this say about his take on materialism?
Chapter 4
1. Bring to class, on paper, 3 quotes that represent Kerouac's unique style and pace as a writer. They will probably be relatively lengthy.
Isabel:
ReplyDelete1. “I arrived at Chi quite early in the morning, got a room at the Y, and went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket”. The Beat Generation has an undertone of just following the road without planning, money or thinking of the future. Showing up at the Y with just a couple of bucks is a very ‘beatnik’ (for lack of a better term) thing to do.
2. This is definitely not a compliment. The use of the word ‘rank’ proves this very quickly. I think it’s referring to the smell of washed-up, broken American dreams and grease pollution.
3.“The only cars that came by were farmer-cars; they gave me suspicious looks, they clanked along, the cows were coming home. Not a truck”. ‘Not a truck’ is very important. He realizes that the only people driving this road are people who own cars; that is, people who are more wealthy and don’t have to work as much as the type who need to own a truck. And I don’t know how this connects to your thesis, as I only read the one paragraph of your essay.
4.“I ran for it with my soul whoopeeing”. Kerouac seems to feel uncomfortable around more wealthy, ‘blue collar’ people. “One of my biggest troubles hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, make them feel like they didn’t make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost”. Kerouac feels more alike to the truck driver, and feels comfortable with just sitting silently and enjoying the ride without worrying about insulting someone who is more well-off than him.
5.“I was half-way across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future” (16). Kerouac is scared and stressed about what he’s going to find in his future. Again, it’s all completely unplanned.
6.“All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind or another”.
7.Kerouac is young and sprightly, taking a road trip across the USA! He’s not a middle-aged, blowhard tourist. “...a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces” (20).
8.The quote completes as follows: “it had only sentimental value in any case”. For most people, sentimental value is one of the big reasons to keep something. This only shows that Kerouac simply does not hold on to things because of memories they have; he only keeps things if they’re useful to him in the moment.
“It was an ordinary bus trip... till we got on the plain of Ohio and really rolled up by Ashtabula and straight across Indiana in the night” (12). I think this quote represents the people in the Beat Generation because iIt shows that they are constantly on the move, and do not really settle down. I think this idea of a kind of rebellious traveling really strikes me as a thing from the Beat Generation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the quote is a criticism. Kerouac states that the river has a stench and is comparing it to America. This quote is probably meant to be interpreted negatively and indicates that Kerouac is stating that America is similar to something very repugnant. That is certainly not a good thing.
On page 14, Kerouac sees all sorts of people with many types of hats coming back from a day’s work. He is then taken to a really beautiful place, but is left alone. I feel that Kerouac realized at this moment that all the other people had a place to go home to, while de did not. That is why he felt “scared” that “pretty soon nobody would be able to see” him (14). I don’t remember how this ties to your thesis specifically, but I think there was something that might relate. Sorry.
“And what a driver- a great big tough truckdriver with popping eyes and a hoarse raspy voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me” (14). Judging from the quote, I think that Kerouac admires and is fascinated by the blue collar folk. He enjoys being with the truck driver and at one point, even feels relaxed around him.
I think we see the strains on travel on Kerouac on page 15 when he states that he “spent a long day sleeping on a big clean hard white bed with dirty remarks carved on the wall beside my pillow... I didn’t know who I was- I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room, I’d never seen” (15).
“All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only the cute suburban cottages of one damn kind an another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn” (17).
“I said to myself, Wham, listen to that man laugh. That’s the West, here I am in the West” (19). I think that although he is a citizen living in the US, it’s such a big country that he feels like he is visiting a whole new world while he is traveling. Therefore, I feel like Kerouac views himself as a sort of a semi-tourist. I feel that way when I travel around Japan too.
The quote shows us that Kerouac is not a very materialistic person. If he were very materialistic, he would despair over the loss of his shirt, and try to not get it dirty.
1. "Till we got on the plain of Ohio and really rolled, up by Ashtabula and straight across Indiana in the night" (12). I think this rapid tempo in the sentence, represents jazz music, and the way they are in one place and another represents their freedom of traveling around.
ReplyDelete2. I think this is a criticism because rank smell means a terrible stink. I guess Kerouac is describing the state America is in, which he think is desolate.
3. Kerouac realizes that the people who are driving the cars are the residents in the country, so he feels lonely and alienated. I don't exactly remember what is said in your thesis, but I think it relates to how it is difficult melting into a new society, even though you act like one.
4. Kerouac feels relaxed and comfortable with the truck driver, because he doesn't have to try to flatter that person. Instead, "the guy just yelled above the roar, and all I had to do was yell back, and we relaxed" (14). I think Kerouac doesn't get along with the blue collar fold because they are basically the working class, who are rich and proud of themselves, which is the opposite of Kerouac who freely travels on the road.
5. "I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I'd never seen...I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost" (15). I think Kerouac is feeling lonely because he is in a complete new environment, but he starts to question the reason he is traveling.
6. "All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn" (17). This talks about how America has changed and become modern, which shocked Kerouac.
7. I think Kerouac doesn't want to be compared with tourists, because he consider his purpose different with them. I think Kerouac thinks he is on a trip to clarify his identity, unlike the tourists enjoying themselves with sights they see. "And once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sighs or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces" (20). From this quote, it seems that Kerouac has an instinctive dislike of tourists, as he mocking them.
8. It tells that Kerouac doesn't have a strong take on materialism, because if I had sentimental values on any things, I think I wouldn't dare to throw it away. But Kerouac is the opposite, and his cooled off attitude tells us that he doesn't keep things because of sentimental values.
1. “It was an ordinary bus trip with crying babies and hot sun, and countryfolk getting on at one Penn town after another, till we got on the plain of Ohio and really rolled, up by Ashtabula and straight across Indiana in the night(12)”.
ReplyDeleteThe descriptions of the places he passes through are full of energy(crying babies, hot sun). The long sentence conveys the feeling of constant, rolling motion, and being ‘on the beat’.
2. believe that the quote is a criticism, for its diction. Perhaps that was his perception of America at the time, ‘rank’ and ‘raw’.
3. Kerouac realizes how everybody had a place to start and return to, while he was left alone in “the purple darkness”(14). This ties into your thesis because you mentioned how geographical identity assisted in establishing a physical sense of place and identity of the Beat and Lost Generation.
4. “And he balled that thing clear to Iowa City and yelled me the funniest stories about how he got around the law”(14). Kerouac does enjoy the the truck ride with the man. He must be amused by the blue collar folk for living such a different life from him.
5. “I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost.”
Jack was halfway in America when he thought of this. He woke up not knowing where he was and who he is, which indicates how geography resembles Sal’s emotion and identity. He felt like he was somebody else now
6. “All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind or another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn”(17).
7. “tourish car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces” (20).
Kerouac is living the adventures of which he dreamed. His hitchhikes to the west is a spiritual journey, and he takes pride in this so he does not want to be classified as a ‘tourist’.
8. It is clear that materialistic belongings don’t matter to him. A shirt is just a tool for him to keep him warm and his skin protected. It reminds me of Thoreau.
1. "Countryfolk getting on at one Penn town after another, til we got on the plain of Ohio an really rolled, up by Ashtabula and straight across Indiana in the night. I arrived in Chi quite early in the morning... i dug Chicago after a good day's sleep." (pg. 12) The diction represented in the quote suggests elements of the Beat generation because Kerouack uses slang and commas often. To elaborate, the use of commas prolongs the action, adding not only suspense but rhythm to the text. Adding that jazz was popular during the Beat generation it can be inferred that Kerouack was inspired by the spontaneous yet consistent nature of jazz, which influenced the flow of his writing. The slang used, such as "Penn" "Chi" and "dug" are also words particularly used during by this generation.
ReplyDelete2. I believe Kerouack was disappointed by the appearance of the Mississippi River and therefore it appears to be criticism. Normally we would imagine the Mississippi River to be a rushing, pulsing vein in the American land with various twists and turns and secret lazy spots where you could rest. yet what Kerouack sees is pale in comparison to this expectation. Dried up, smelling unpleasant, and no power whatsoever in the river, I believe Kerouack was using the river to portray America at that time. For anyone on the outside, America seems like this grand place where opportunities and magical things happen, yet once you actually go to witness it yourself, you see it is nothing more than a lucky few who swim through the sludge of American existence, exhausted from war, exhausted from movements, generally left with no strength or vigor left to be appealing.
3. I'm taking a guess here, but it this entire passage has something to do with the fact that "being Beat was just a lot of frantic nowehere hysteria" ? Kerouack writes that he was right where he started from, not physically, of course, but spiritually and mentally. He also wrote that he was scared, scared because he was alone in the countryside with no lights. Being "right back where he started" also signifies that he is waiting for "God to show his face", waiting for something to happen, to show him direction in life. He doesn't know what, or when, but he just knows it needs to happen. I believe that was main idea I got from reading this.
4. " A great bug truck driver with popping eyes and a hoarse voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me. so I could rest my tired soul a little." (14) Kerouack is complimenting the truck driver because he does not pay any attention to him, which is what Kerouack always wanted. Kerouack was not happy with absorbing the spotlight, so to be able to exist on his own for a little was comforting to him, and he appreciated that the truck driver allowed him to do that.
5. "One of the biggest troubles hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost, all of which is a great strain when you're going all the way and don't plan to sleep in hotels." (14)
ReplyDelete6. " All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind or another"(17).
7. "And once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces". (20) I think Kerouack is a traveller and not a tourist. Tourists want to see what places are famous for, but Kerouack wants to see the road less travelled, the holes in the wall. He reminds me of Anthony Bourdain from No Reservations.
8. The way I read it, it seemed like Kerouack liked the shirt more than the person wearing it. He made no mention of the man who abandoned him, yet he made final goodbyes with his shirt, something that had been with him through thick and thin. Probably not the accurate perspective, but that what I thought about it.
1. "Countryfolk getting on at one Penn town after another, til we got on the plain of Ohio an really rolled, up by Ashtabula and straight across Indiana in the night..." (12). The diction of this phrase is representative of the Beat Generation because of its easy-toned colloquial language and the flow of it that gradually changes without arising any awkwardness, since the Beat Generation values the idea of spontaneity and extremity.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Kerouac meant it as a compliment. Kerouac valued the truth and the rawness of things, a reason why he writes in his style. Despite the physically repulsive smell, the idea of how that same smell represented America in its most truthful nature must have been appealing to Kerouac.
3. I really am not sure how this relates to your thesis but.. Kerouac realizes that although he is physically so far away from where he used to belong, from where he practically ran away from, he still was scared of never be found by anyone, and that things actually didn't change at all, that he "was right where I started from" (14). This also pertains to how the farmers had a place to go home to, a place of comfort while he did not.
4. "A great bug truck driver with popping eyes and a hoarse voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me. so I could rest my tired soul a little" (14). We can see from this quote that Kerouac appreciate this truck driver because he did not have to care how to entertain him unlike the other drivers since this one did not pay any attention to him. This allows Kerouac to relax and rest.
5. As seen in the previous quote on page 14, Kerouac definitely feels lonely and scared. On the course of this unplanned trip, his intention seems to be an escape from people or society. However, he realizes that by doing so, he renders himself even more lonely, which is a realization he probably did not expect.
6. "All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind or another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn" (17).
7. "somehow all the cars were farmer-cars, and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces" (20). Kerouac does not consider himself as a tourist, since he is not travelling to see some famous sites; to him, his being in one place is not a choice while the tourists chose to visit those places.
8. It clearly shows that he has minimal values on materialsim. He would appreciate the use of it, but would not cry over its loss.
1) The first paragraph is quite lengthy and the selection of the words are simple, but the sentence itself is very long, and Kerouac keeps on rambling about his trip. "I arrived in Chi quite early in the morning, got a room in the Y, and went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket. I dug Chicago after a good day's sleep" (12). The first paragraph shows that they are "on the road" with very little money, and everything that they do is spontaneous, just like Kerouac's prose and the Beat Generations lifestyle.
ReplyDelete2) Kerouac is criticising the changes that happened to the Mississippi river, just like the changes that are happening in America. He compares the Mississippi river, which is a microcosm of America, to a rank smell, which is a foul smell.
3) The narrator describes his night as the "purple darkness", where he felt utterly scared and lonely. The men with the hats were driving home, to their home, while he was on the road, in the middle of no where as he was scared that "nobody would be able to see me". I think he realises that as much as he hates the conformity of the society, being alone is sad and depressing.
4) The truck driver was "a great big tough truckdriver with popping eyes and a hoarse raspy voice who just slammed and kicked at everything" (14). The narrator feels relaxed and he feels as if he can sleep because the truck driver barely paid attention on the narrator. The truck driver shared his "funniest stories about how he got around the law in every town that had an unfair speed limit…" (14). I think this quote pretty much sums up that Kerouac supports the blue collar folk, as they are different from wealthy snobby citizens, and in a way the blue collar folks are more like him, since they don't really fit into society.
5) "I didn't know who I was… I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost" (15). He wakes up and completely forget his identity, and who he was and what he was living for. He might have felt as if he meant nothing to the world since he wasn't involved in it; therefore feeling lost and feeling as if he was a ghost.
6) "And of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in dismal gray dawn" (17).
7) "in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or pointing over maps" (20).
Kerouac describes the old couple as a typical tourist, fascinated at everything they see, while Kerouac is more concerned about how to get there, not the sights. He is a tourist but I think he isn't really interested about anywhere other than his destination. He is more like a backpacker than a typical tourist that we think of today.
8) Kerouac is obviously not materialistic since the necessities of life for him are the basic things; food, water, air, shelter, etc. His shirt doesn't mean anything to him, he's just wearing a shirt to keep himself warm and prevent himself from getting sick.
1. From the first paragraph, the sentences are very lengthy but this quote describes the Beat Generation very well: "I arrived in Chi quite early in the morning, got a room in the Y, and went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket" (12). It shows how he is on the road without so much money, or an idea as to what he will do next.
ReplyDelete2. Describing something as "rank" isn't a good thing. It means that whatever it is is foul-smelling. In this case, it's describing America and his idea of how life is like living there: foul.
3. On this page, Kerouac sees that all of the people with many kinds of hats had somewhere to go home to, but he didn't. He was scared: "in a minute, nobody would be able to see me" (14). As much as he hates the conformity of everyone he sees pass by, he finds himself alone in the "purple darkness" (14).
4. "And what a driver - a great big tough truckdriver with popping eyes and a hoarse raspy voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me" (14). I think that he's happy the truck driver isn't paying any attention to him, since it not only gives him some time to relax, but also because the driver reminds him of himself, since unlike the wealthier people, the blue collar workers are more like him.
5. " I didn't know who I was - I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I'd never seen.. I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost" (15). Halfway across the country, Kerouac suddenly comes to a realization that in his attempt to escape from normal day-today life, he felt lost like a ghost, and most of all, lonely.
6. "All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal tray dawn" (17).
7. "..and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces" (20).
I think that he makes it clear that those tourists and himself were hitting the road for different reasons. While the tourists were there to look at the famous sights, Kerouac seems to be more interested in the process of the trip, and looking into the smaller things, like hitchhiking with strangers and eating at small diners; things that the stereotypical tourist wouldn't bother doing at a travel destination.
8. If he were materialistic, he might have regretted lending Eddie the shirt, but "it had only sentimental value in any case" (21). The shirt was only for him to keep warm, but he didn't mind letting go of it.
1. “I arrived in chi early in the morning, got a room in the Y, and went to bed with very few dollars in my pocket.” (12) This quote represents the Beat Generation because it is all about the journey rather than the destination, with little money and ill planning, he sleeps through the day and returns to the road and continues his journey without worry.
ReplyDelete2. I think its criticism, the choice of words like ‘rank’ definitely isn’t complimentary.
3. Kerouac notices people with hats who all seem to have places to go and people to be with, unlike himself. He quickly becomes uncomfortable: "in a minute, nobody would be able to see me" (14). He feels alone surrounded by "purple darkness" (14).
4.“And what a driver- a great big tough truck driver with popping eyes and a hoarse raspy voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me” (14). This quote elucidates kerouac's fascination for collar folk. He feels calm and relaxed in the truck drives presence.
5.“I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost.”
6. "and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind or another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn" (17).
7. “tourish car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces” (20). Kerouac does this to compare how he travels for pure enjoyment of open roads and last minute decisions, not for frequently visited ‘hot spots’ and already determined destinations.
8. Kerouac is less materialistic than most. His ability to let things go is admirable, I wish I was able to do as he does.
1. “...went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket. I dug Chicago after a good day’s sleep,” (Kerouac 12). I found this somewhat amusing; usually we say a good “night’s” sleep, but in Kerouac’s case, since he was “beat”, he slept during the day. Another idea that Kerouac included in the first paragraph was the fact that he was low on money, and also the fact that he “dug” Chicago, which was term that he and his fellow Beat Generation Cambridge members used as well.
ReplyDelete2. He refers to the Mississippi River as “beloved”, which gives the impression that he is complimenting it. My assumption is that he was merely making a keen observation; that the Mississippi is iconically American.
3. Kerouac realized that even though he was far from home, he still saw typical people (wearing typical hats) going home from their normal jobs, like regular people found anywhere. This supports the idea the although geography gave you identity, it was usually the same everywhere.
4. “I ran for it with my soul whoopeeing. And what a driver - a great big tough truckdriver with popping eyes and a hoarse raspy voice who just slammed and kicked at everything and got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to me,” (14). Kerouac was quite pleased that he found a ride 2 minutes after getting off the bus. He noticed that this truck driver didn’t pay too much attention to him. I guess Kerouac felt that blue collared folk were hospitable.
5. “for one of the biggest roubles hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn’t make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost, all of which is a great strain when you’re going all the way and don’t plan to sleep in hotels,” (14). Kerouac sometimes found it hard to constantly deal with people, and he never had any time to himself, since he was always on the road.
6. “All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn,” (17). I feel that Kerouac is somewhat foreshadowing the idea of the American Dream with this sentence. Although the American Dream is notably more imminent later in history, after World War II, I feel that his reference to “cute suburban cottages” is giving the impression that these historical places are turning into suburban neighborhoods.
7. “and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces,” (20). Quite obviously, Kerouac differs from normal tourists in that he actually exposed himself to the community by hitching rides from real people who were usually from the local area. Although technically he is a tourist, he I feel he resents people that think they can experience a place from just looking at it from inside their car.
8. Kerouac is not materialistic; he feels that objects themselves don’t have that much value. He only noted the “sentimental” value of the shirt, which is held mentally, not physically.
1. "It was an ordinary bus trip with crying babies and hot sun, and countryfolk getting on at one Penn town after another, till we got on the plain oh Ohio and really rolled, up by Ashtabula and straight across Indian in the night."(12) From this lengthy quote, we already see that his spontaneous writing is an example of the Beat Generation. The smoothness of the sentence lets us picture this scene that the atmosphere is really energetic and they are constantly moving, which represents the the "beat."
ReplyDelete2. I think he said it as a criticism because he felt devoted towards his "beloved" Mississippi River, as in America at that time.
3. "...for one of the biggest troubles hitchhiking is having talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost,"(14) I thought this related to geographical identity. Everyone who had cars, had their own identities from different places but he finds himself lost and alone. He describes that it's tiring to put a mask to comfort a driver; he had to face different characters from different places, whereas in here, he felt comfortable.
4. "THe guy just yelled above the roar, and all I had to do was yell back, and we relaxed."(14) Unlike other drivers he hitchhiked, he really appreciated the chillness throughout the ride because he didn't really have to put a lot of effort in comforting the truck driver; he didn't have to build himself to a different character.
5. Again I'm saying this quote: "...for one of the biggest troubles hitchhiking is having talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost,"(14) Even though he gets a free ride, he has to face different people who has different perspectives and it's his job to comfort the driver; he has to build himself to a character similar to the driver in order to keep the ride steady.
6. "..and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kid and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn." (17)
7."...and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces."(20) I think he doesn't want to be equivalent as the tourists because he's a 'real' traveller. He has more freedom, as in time, whereas tourist has a limited amount of time to travel in specific places.
8. This quote tells us that he doesn't have strong values towards materialism. This quote reminded me of how it's the complete opposite of Daisy in The Great Gatsby when she said "I've never seen such beautiful shirts before." (something along that line.)
1. "the plain of ohio and really rolled, up by ashtabula and straight across indiana in the night"(12). Things in the beat generation continue to just roll along, everything is simply passing by. Life is waiting for the next thing to happen which is in turn, waiting for the next thing.
ReplyDelete2. It appears that he is being critical, as he chose to use the word "rank", I don't think that sounds much like a compliment in this context.
3. He notices that, unlike himself, everyone in the cars have somewhere to start and end their day. He is lost in the passing through of the beat generation the same way that was mentioned in your thesis when you talked about identity to a certain place.
4. "paid hardly any attention to me. so I could rest my tired soul"(14). Kerouac enjoys not having to "entertain" the truck driver as he does with many others he hitchhiked with. He enjoys this about the truck ride and is happy to get a break.
5. The need to entertain the people who pick him up or share about himself is taxing on him, he appears to feel alone even though he is trying to escape.
6. "of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn"(17). Everything changes and these areas are just like the rest, america is changing. The rise of suburbia.
7. “a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps"(20). he mocks tourists and separates himself from them even though he is a traveler, or not from around there. He still feels that his intentions and actions are different that theirs, which i can understand.
8. He seems not to have much of a materialistic attitude, he can let go of it and only mention the item's sentimental value.
1. "I arrived in Chi quite early in the morning, got a room in the Y, and went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket. I dug Chicago after a good day's sleep" (Kerouac 12). I believe this, and the paragraph as a whole greatly exemplifies what Kerouac and the "Beat" was defined as. In this quote, it is evident that the "Beat" lifestyle of traveling with little money and not having a plan, other than to just keep going, is portrayed. Also, it is mentioned that he "dug" Chicago, as in he liked it, which is a very "beatnik" term.
ReplyDelete2. I believe he meant the comparison as a criticism, rather than a compliment, due to the use of the word "rank". I believe he is using the Mississippi to represent his feeling towards America as a whole. It seems that the Mississippi is one of those iconic American spots that people imagine to be beautiful, but in reality is anything but beautiful, and I think that that is how Kerouac ultimately sees America. As a place that is too good to be true, a place of false hope and broken dreams.
3. He realizes that despite the differences in hats, and ultimately the differences in the people, all the people driving home had one thing in common; they all had somewhere to call home and somewhere to go back to. This ties into your thesis, and your analysis of a geographic identity. Despite choosing to live is life on the road seemingly happy, it can be seen that as he has no where to go, and nowhere to call home, he can't help but feel lost. "Luckily a man going back to Davenport gave me a lift downtown. But I was right where I started from" (Kerouac 14). This quote shows that even though he was out of the dark, and was somewhere else, the feeling of loneliness and not belonging remained.
4. He celebrates the truck driver, as he feels more comfortable with him. He doesn't feel as if he has to put in any extra effort with the truck driver, as "one of the biggest troubles with hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, making them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up" (Kerouac 14). He feels that unlike blue-collared folk, who seek to be entertained or talked to, the truck driver has no alternative motives or gain from picking up hitchhikers.
5. Kerouac feels as due to his constant traveling, he has no time for himself, "for one of the biggest troubles with hitchhiking is having to talk to innumerable people, making them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost, all of which is a great strain when you're going all the way and don't plan to sleep in hotels" (Kerouac 14).
6. "We arrived at Counsel Bluffs at dawn; I looked out. All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held counsel there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn" (Kerouac 17). In this line, Kerouac has come to realize what had become of America, and the future expansion of modern day suburbia.
7. "...and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces" (Kerouac 20). He feels that although he travels around the US, similarly to a tourist, he lacks the main objectives of any tourist; the wish to know where and what he is doing. He feels that rather than focusing in the where, why and when, he'd much rather focus on the experience and his spiritual journey.
8. Kerouac lacks attachment towards material objects. He is more concerned with what experiences or memories the shirt holds, rather than the shirt itself, therefore he doesn't uphold much materialistic values.
Chapter 3
ReplyDelete1. The diction in the first paragraph represents the Beat Generation with the adventurous spirit and the undying energy shown in places like the “crying babies and hot sun”. Reading their journey makes you believe that they were invincible; how they just go with the unplanned and doesn't really care for wealth, and parties like the lost generation. He just rent a random hotel room and “went to bed with a very few dollars in” (12) his pockets. Also the last sentence “I dug Chicago after a good day’s sleep” gives you a sense of freedom, like he had a choice of liking or disliking some place based on whether he felt like it or not.
2.I believe that it depends on what he meant by the word “rank”. If he meant it as in powerful and vigorous then I think it is a compliment, but if it is strong and unpleasant, then it is a criticism. Either way, Kerouac is known to speak his mind and be truthful in his writings so he wouldn't try to impress readers by beautifying places he saw during his road trip just because they are well-known places.
3.Kerouac originally enjoyed observing all the people getting off work and heading home and thought that they were “just like after work in any town anywhere” (14) however later discovered that once all those people were gone, he was left alone, in the darkness with nowhere to go. “There weren't even any lights in the Iowa countryside” (14), and it was almost as if he could become invisible in the night. You talked about this in your thesis about the difference of the East and the West. Unlike the previous Lost Generation who all moved to the East from the West to seek for opportunities, Kerouac grew up in the East and the cities and is traveling to the West to find his friends experience the adventures that the country has to offer. He doesn't realize how different the two sides are until he was at the core of it.
4.When he sees the truck he “ran for it with (his) soul whoopeeng” (14) and was delighted to find that the truck driver just “got his rig under way and paid hardly any attention to” him (14), giving him the chance to rest. This might be indicating that the blue collar folk doesn’t really expect anything in return from him, unlike many others who stop for him so that he could entertain them. The driver is tough and virile just like the image of his truck.
5.Road trips can definitely become weary after a while, especially if you’re doing it like Kerouac, without definite destinations and hitchhiking all the way. You cannot choose the drivers that pick you up, and you cannot be comfortable all the time. You also become “somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost” (15).
6.“All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn” (17).
7. “Somehow all the cars were farmer-cars, and once in a while a tourist car, which is worse, with old men driving and their wives pointing out the sights or poring over maps, and sitting back looking at everything with suspicious faces” (20). Kerouac doesn’t consider himself a tourist. An adventurer would suit him more. He tries to take in the vibe of each place and fit himself in along with the rest of them. He doesn’t try to stand out like those typical tourists, who pretend to be fascinated by every little thing.
8. Kerouac really doesn’t care much for materialism. He says that the shirt “had only sentimental value in any case” but ultimately it was just cloth that made him warm and he wouldn’t get hung up on losing it. He’s easy to let the past go, and only worries about living in the present.
“went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket” (12). This represents beat generation in that he lived minimally. He also says he had a good days sleep which represents the liveliness of this generation. Also implying that he was physically "beat" from this liveliness.
ReplyDeleteThis is neither and both. Kerouac is making an observation about the united states and it's rawness. this could be a compliment in that "it is what it is". America is raw and "rank" and it can't be changed.
He realized that people are the same everywhere. This is found in your thesis in that you say people's geography reflects who they are yet people, at the same time, tend to be the same. Kerauac represents this by people's hats. They are different hats in different places but they are all just hats'
"paid hardly any attention to me. so I could rest my tired soul"(14). This quotes admires the independence of the trucker in his "go with the flow attitude". He has found who he is and where he is going and is not concerned with impressing others. This shows respect for blue collar workers in their grit and sense of self.
"...for one of the biggest troubles hitchhiking is having talk to innumerable people, make them feel that they didn't make a mistake picking you up, even entertain them almost,"(14) Traveling also becomes a job in that it is tiring but you have to do it.
“All winter I’d been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn” (17).
“Somehow all the cars were farmer-cars, and once in a while a tourist car" Kerouac distinguishes himself from being a tourist by being a "traveler" he is interested in the journey as opposed to the destination. Kerouac looks down on tourists.
Kerouac is un-materialistic. He feels that his shirt has literally no value other then sentimental and that is not enough for it to be worth his space. This is the bare minimum and is the epitome of anti-materialism.
1." I arrived in Chi quite early in the morning, got a room in the Y, and went to bed with a very few dollars in my pocket. I dug Chicago after a good day's sleep" (12). The Beat Generation were a group of spontaneous youths, they did not have plans, not money, just kept going on. In this quote the narrator traveling with the flow but have no exact plans of where to go.
ReplyDelete2. I think it is a compliment, while the word " rank" may describe the awful smell of the river physically, Kerouac also mentions shortly before that it was his " beloved" Mississippi River. I think he likes the rawness of the river, like how he likes the rawness of America.
3. " All the men were driving home from work, wearing railroad hats, baseball hats, all kinds of hats, just like after work in any town anywhere" (14). I don't remember reading this in your thesis , but this quote explains how, people although seemingly different are all actually the same. People that live in the city , that live in the suburbs, that live in the country, are all really just doing the same things.
4. " The guy jus yelled above the roar, and all had to do was yell back, and we relaxed" (14). Kerouac appreciated the uncaring nature of the truck driver, rather the never ending talk with people he hitch-hiked, he was able to be himself and relax with this blue-collar folk.
5. " I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost" (15). Kerouac is excited about going to the West, but it also the first time he had ever gone a such a road trip himself. He is alone he starts to see parts of him he did not recognized before. I feel that he is in the process of discovering himself, and thats hard.
6. " All winter I'd been reading of the great wagon parties that held council there before hitting the Oregon and Santa Fe trails; and of course now it was only cute suburban cottages of one damn kind and another, all laid out in the dismal gray dawn" (17)
7. Kerouac is not a tourist, but a traveler. He is fascinated by the fact of traveling across the country and not necessarily the things he see. He has no "tourist spots" he plans to visit, everything is unplanned for him. " That's the West, here I am in the West", he says as he listens to the laugh of the cowboy, he was touring, he was absorbing the atmosphere of everywhere he went.
8. Materialism is not important to him, it is simply a tool to keep warmth. Instead of its physical value, by "kissing" the shirt good-by, it show that the shirt only holds sentimental value.