Impact of Dean on Sals Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road Essay

The Impact of Dean on Sal's Identity  in  On the Road On The Road begins with the protagonist, Sal, (representative of author Jack Kerouac), being overwhelmed by feelings of confusion and uncertainty regarding his personal identity. He then meets ‘Dean Moriarty’, an eccentric character who rejects societal values and ‘norms’. Sal is absorbed with and entranced by Dean, perceiving him as almost ‘superhuman’, and decides to follow him across the country. A passive character, Sal soon becomes dependent on Dean, mimicking his friend rather than discovering his personal identity. It is likely that such behaviour was greatly influenced by events that occurred in Jack Kerouac’s childhood . Eventually, Sal realises that if he is to be independent, he must no longer blindly follow others, but discover himself. Sal is presented at first as a passive character, someone who has shaped his identity by depending on others to influence him. His morals and val... ...n what he has discovered about himself. ‘Sal set out to experience the world. What he ended up finding, was himself’ (Honan 1987:ix). Bibliography Charters, Ann. 1973. Kerouac: A Biography, Warner Communications Company, New York. Honan, Simon, 1987. The Beat Generation,   Allen and Unwin Publishing, New York. Kerouac, Jack. 1976. On the Road. Penguin, New York. Tytell, John. 1976. Naked Angels: the Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation. McGraw-Hill, New York.