Jack Kerouacs On The Road and William Leasts Blue Highways - Essay Example

?Kerouac and Moon Introduction The works of two major are put into discussion in this essay. These are Jack Kerouac who writes “On the Road” and Heat-Moon, William Least who writes “Blue Highways”. From the perspective of Jack Kerouac, the power of friendship and love and its ability to make two people from two different parts of the world come to agree on travelling around New York is presented. These two people are Dean and Sal. In the course of their journeys around New York, there are several fascinating encounters the two friends come across that both enlightens their views and opinion about the American person and also gives them a peculiar identify of where they two of them also belong in the American society or system. On his part, Heat-Moon William Least in writing Blue Highways takes the story from the perspective of someone who is not meeting love right away but bitterness and pain. This was because the journey that is described in this book was embarked upon by someone who had just separated from his wife and also lost his lost. As a way of finding solace from not just the brighter side of life but the ugly part of it also, the voyager decides to travel along the rural part of America that is often marked by a blue line in Rand McNally road atlas and thus the Blue Highway. It could briefly be said that both works are similar because they are all based on journeys of the life of real people while the setting of the journeys and the causes of the journey brings out the differences in the two books. Likes among both writers Both authors exhibit in their writing and the narration of their journeys, certain things they like about America that are common in both instances. One of these is the seemingly clear love for alcohol. This is shown because Kerouac emphasizes his love for big party with alcohol (Kerouac, p. 53). Similarly, Moon reiterates his love to drink a lot of alcohol (Moon, p. 6). Clearly, reasons as to why these two writers both love the abundance of alcoholic drinks in America could be traced to the circumstances surrounding their trip. On the part of Kerouac, it could be said that he was just putting himself in the most common kind of mood that new friends and lovers put themselves in, which has to do with the sharing of drinks and alcohol to make themselves feel so good. On his part, Moon might have taken to the love for alcohol as a way of dealing with the pain and grief that his heart bore. The love for alcohol is thus similar among the two writers but the reasons for liking alcohol is quite different. Both writers also exhibit their likeness for music and dancing. Though Moon traveled through the rural part of America and Kerouac travelled through New York, it is common to find that music and dance is something that is synonymous with all parts of America being it rural or urban. This is because while Kerouac who was in the heart of the city wrote that he loves music and dance (Kerouac, p. 53), Moon who was also in the rural setting also wrote that he loves to enjoy his life by dancing off his stress (Moon, p. 9). Regardless of this similarity however, it can be said that the sources of enjoyment that came with music and dance for the two writers were different. For instance in the city, one is likely to party in places like the discotheque or club while in the rural area, all that there is to offer are pubs and little bars and restaurants. Again, there exist differences in terms of causes of action. This is because while Kerouac’s action was caused by the desire to make himself happy with his friend, Moon’s action was caused by the need to throw off his sorrows. Dislikes among both writers As normal people, it would not be every single thing that these two individuals see about America that they will love. This is especially so as the two had to travel around different places in America. Indeed once a person is travelling around; it is common that he fellow will come across different people and different events that will trigger the person’s awareness on what he dislikes about a place. In this regard, Kerouac strongly expresses his dislike for teenagers whiles Moon expresses his dislike for how the interstates hide people (Moon, p. 9). In the opinion of Kerouac, the teenagers of America seem to have lost sight of the importance of their maturity stage and the opportunities they can take from it (Kerouac, p. 54). These young ones who are the most active and should be spending their energies on profitable ventures only seem to spend their energies on pleasure. Moon would also be more happy if there existed a system that would identify all people as the same but unfortunately the interstates hide people and this is something that Moon distastes so much. Rather contrasting, whiles Moon took his expedition in a bid to find solace in the happenings of the world around because of the losses he had suffered, Kerouac felt that Americans do not have a better attitude towards handling losses and that some of the things people do when they experience losses are things he dislikes (Kerouac, p. 55). Well, Moon could not dislike himself for travelling around because of his loss and so have something else to dislike and that was the American car. In his opinion, American cars are quite unusual as compared to other forms and types of cars from other parts of the world (Moon, p. 9). To this end, he would have commanded for some changes in the modeling and structure of most American cars if he had his own way. Having noted this, it is important to stress that it is always good that the American population would have certain things they can point to and refer to them as differences between they and other people of the world. For this reason, it should not be a very huge task for Moon to come to appreciate why American cars are not like other cars. Conclusion In conclusion, it would be said that the journeys embarked upon by the writers are fairly expeditious and went a long way to satisfying different and similar purposes in their lives. At least, the two people came to appreciate the true identity of the American citizen by travelling to different parts of the country where they were not familiar with at first. Though there may be contrasting and similar likes and dislikes, what is important perhaps is the need to realize that though America may be there as a single unit, there are different people who live in it with different lifestyles and attitudes. It is therefore important that all people develop the attitude of friendliness and tolerance for each other. Without this, co-existence would be most difficult for all people in the beautiful country of America. REFERENCE LIST Heat-Moon, William L. Blue Highways. 2012. Web. July 1, 2012 Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. 2012. Web. July 1, 2012 Read More