Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
The road themes essay
The road themes essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Quest for Self and Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road
1329 Words3 Pages
The Quest For Identity In On The Road
In Jack Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’, the protagonists embark upon a long, arduous quest for human identity. Their aim is to uncover who they truly are, where they fit in the ‘scheme of things’ and what the meaning of life is. They articulate this desire by speaking, during the novel, of the search for ‘IT’, ‘IT’ being human identity. This ‘IT’ is an intangible thing; something that holds a different meaning for every individual. It encompasses all the things humans yearn for – life answers, the meaning of the universe, happiness, enlightenment, self-fulfilment, ‘beatification’ (as articulated by Kerouac). ‘On the Road’ is the story of a desperate search for ‘IT’, in which the protagonists finally come to realise that ‘IT’ is unattainable and time cannot be defied.
The human search for ‘IT’ is never-ending. Even when we know that the search is virtually impossible, that ‘IT’ is unreachable, that ou...
... middle of paper ...
...iences and thoughts. The novel concludes with the poignant truth humans often try to ignore – that time and aging are inexorable and that the answers to life will most probably never be known to any of us while on earth.
Works Cited:
Kerouac, Jack. On The Road. Penguin Books Limited, New York. 1955.
Honan, Simon. The Beat Generation, Allen and Unwin Publishing, New York. 1987.
Eliot, T.S. The Collected Works of TS Eliot, Eldridge Publishing Inc, Sydney.1954.
Related
The Character Study of Chlomo in Night by Elie Wiesel
1322 Words | 3 Pages"At the very end of the novel- what is represented as being important? Find two quotes to illustrate this".
Scrooge's Transformation in Dickens' A Christmas Carol
1323 Words | 3 PagesThe theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end."
Abandoning Morals and Ethics: Oryx and Crake, Elizabeth Bathory
978 Words | 2 Pages...vels, "my principal design was to inform you, and not to amuse you,". The book is designed for the reader to understand that the negative consequences in the search for ultimate power and control which far outweigh the gains. Immortality and divine control may comfort the instinctual and primal fear of death, but it will do far greater harm than good. By trying to defy nature, nature will inevitably regain control; everything is temporary and nothing was meant to outlast time and space itself.
"Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States"
890 Words | 2 PagesOverall, "Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States" is a good history of the Chinese in America. Despite the fact that he wrote this book back in 1964. I'm pretty sure he could have added a lot more information today then back then. I would highly recommend this book to other readers who are interested in Chinese history. I was really not but this book made me feel like I needed to do some research on Korean American history
Importance of Water in The Awakening
1462 Words | 3 Pages...eisz. She can hear her playing the piano and thinks of her talking about art. She wonders if she is a real artist. She becomes exhausted and knows that she is too far out to return. The water that she was so mesmerized with throughout the novel and that was the beginning of her new life, was also the end.
Marilyne Robinson's Themes In Housekeeping By Marilynne Robinson
1914 Words | 4 PagesThe novel is written in the form of letters from a dying father. Although he knows death is inevitable, death is an idea presented with optimism. Literary critic, Susan Petit’s argues that Ames even looks at death like “going home”(Gilead 4) and that “only at the end of his life does he feel at home in the world”
Intertwining Fates as a Motive for Invisibility in Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man
837 Words | 2 PagesAt the end of the novel, the narrator has finally recognized his own invisibility; therefore finally able to redesign himself completely into a person able make a change in society. His experiences will aid him in his fight for power and acceptance in society. The narrator’s previous choices had been those of people around him urging him to define himself based on their standards. By rising above the assigned definitions of himself, the narrator is able to gain a new insight and new persona on and ultimately recreate his fate.
Theme Of Slaughterhouse Five
1432 Words | 3 PagesThe beginning of this book was somewhat confusing, we all wondered if the book was really the authors trouble of putting the book together that led to its structure or if it was meant to represent something else. We had
Anti-Chinese Sentiment in 19th Century American Society
1716 Words | 4 PagesThe first Chinese immigrants to arrive in America came in the early 1800s. Chinese sailors visited New York City in the 1830s (“The Chinese Experience”); others came as servants to Europeans (“Chinese Americans”). However, these immigrants were few in number, and usually didn’t even st...
The Role Of Human Nature In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road
1488 Words | 3 PagesPeople always like to refer to themselves as “independent”. Independence may seem like a great ideal in modern society, but in a post-apocalyptic world, a sense of dependence is unavoidable. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs help us to understand what people depend on. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, survival of the boy and the man is due to their dependence on their human nature and ability to support one another.
The Vanishing Chinese in American History
2836 Words | 6 PagesLai, H. Mark and Choy, Philip P. Outlines: History of the Chinese in America. San Francisco: Fong Brothers, 1971.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
1838 Words | 4 PagesThe one of the main themes in the epilogue, and in the entire novel is
How Nightmares Become Reality in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road
1447 Words | 3 PagesIn Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, in the post-apocalyptic world that the man and the boy live in, dreams begin to take on the form of a new “reality.” As the novel progresses, the man’s dreams, initially memories remnant of his pre-apocalypse life, become “brighter” as the boy’s dreams become darker and nightmarish. Through the use of color and distinct language, McCarthy emphasizes the contrast between reality and dreams. The man’s reliance on bad dreams to keep him tied to the harsh reality alludes to the hopelessness of the situation; he can never truly escape. McCarthy suggests that those who strive for a life that no longer exists are deluded with false hope. Having dreams is a natural human tendency, but in a world that has become so inhumane, the man can’t even afford to retain this element of being human. The loss of the past is a concept that the characters living in this ashen world struggle with, and McCarthy presents memory as a weakness to be exploited.
Chinese Immigration Essay
673 Words | 2 PagesMost immigrants moved to the United States also to find better paying jobs. Also they came because the laws are better and fairer in the United States then in china. Some resettled to the U.S to start a family or went there to be with their family that might have already been in the U.S. The outflow of more than 10 million teals of silver in 1848 intensified the copper-silver exchange rate problem. The influx of foreign goods caused the people to go broke.Many Chinese women also came to America to marry Chinese merchants who had settled in America. The women, however, were first raised in China, and then brought over to the US when they were ready to marry. This practice stemmed the belief that it was safer and cheaper this way. After all, the anti-Chinese sentiment on the West Coast was increasing and as it was, many Chinese in the US had financial difficulties. However, not all...
More about Quest for Self and Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road
The Character Study of Chlomo in Night by Elie Wiesel
1322 Words | 3 PagesScrooge's Transformation in Dickens' A Christmas Carol
1323 Words | 3 PagesAbandoning Morals and Ethics: Oryx and Crake, Elizabeth Bathory
978 Words | 2 Pages"Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States"
890 Words | 2 PagesImportance of Water in The Awakening
1462 Words | 3 PagesMarilyne Robinson's Themes In Housekeeping By Marilynne Robinson
1914 Words | 4 PagesHow Is Frankenstein A Complex Character
3255 Words | 7 PagesIntertwining Fates as a Motive for Invisibility in Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man
837 Words | 2 PagesTheme Of Slaughterhouse Five
1432 Words | 3 PagesAnti-Chinese Sentiment in 19th Century American Society
1716 Words | 4 PagesThe Role Of Human Nature In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road
1488 Words | 3 PagesThe Vanishing Chinese in American History
2836 Words | 6 PagesThe House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
1838 Words | 4 PagesHow Nightmares Become Reality in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road
1447 Words | 3 PagesChinese Immigration Essay
673 Words | 2 Pages