Deans Role in on the Road - Book Report/Review Example

Dean’s role in “On the Road” The novel is based on the cultural and social differences possessed by two different personalities. The two personalities are Sal and the character played by Dean. The difference of lifestyles between people is also highlighted. The lifestyle display of Dean is one full of life and excitement of the thing life offers. Dean cares little about life and lives each day as it comes without committing into commitments (Kelly 35). His life involves drinking, partying, travelling and seeking companionship with females. This lifestyle gave him a negative description among his friends and he was viewed as the spoilt one. On the other hand, Sal lives a careful life. He leads a conservative life as he seeks to build a life before he comes of age. He rarely drank, travelled or spent a night in nightclubs or motels. He is happily married and is in the best track a young man would have imagined to have been at his age. However, he goes through a divorce which changes his life completely (Kelly 45). He searches for a new life in which he can find solace and peace. He did not want his previous life s he imagined all the fun he had missed in life. In his pursuit of an alternative life, he encounter with Dean whom they become very close. Dean completely changed his life as he experienced new eras and lessons in life (Kelly 49). This paper will analyze the change experienced by Sal as he encountered Dean. The paper will also discuss social factors about Sal that changed for this relationship. In regards to Sal’s life, the paper will also point out the negative and positive influences of Dean’s life on Sal. The analysis would then highlight the overall change son Sal’s life through lesson he learnt from Sal. Personal influence Dean’s role in the novel is to act as the agent of change on Sal’s life. The author effectively highlights the differences between the two characters. After being disappointed by sacrifices he made, Sal opts o fit into Dean’s life and that commences the plot of the novel. The Dean change is one with an assurance of girls, visions and everything as cited by Sal (Kelly 67). The author further argues that there was a pearl that would be offered to Sal as he joins Dean in his world endeavors (Kelly 67). The experience filled life of Dean presents a direction in which the author takes to shape the direction of Sal’s life. The role of Dean is also to depict the nature of the modern family and family values. Dean multiple sexual encounter depicts the rot in society and its impact on the society. Additionally, he got married to Camille and they had a daughter, Amy. Regardless of these commitments Dean leaves her to handle the family as he heads out to trips and night life. Additionally, Dean also gets attached to another female companion, Marylou. Marylou is described in the novel as a loose woman who used her body to get anything she desired (Kelly 99). This goes contrary to the society expectation of a woman worth a man’s courtship. Dean influences this negative life on Sal who keeps on wondering when he would encounter the woman of her life. In his pursuit, he has relations with many women just to find the one. Most of these relations were greatly influenced by the effects of Dean’s life. On a positive note, the role of Dean is used to positively affect the life of Sal. At the end of the novel, Sal is pictured reminiscing on the bad things and negative aspects he let in his life (Kelly 87). Before this eye opening moment, Dean had betrayed him several times considering that there were close friend and life companions. However, the most significant betrayal was the fact that Dean left him in Mexico after being diagnosed with Dysentery. After recovering from the disease, he realized that Dean was not a good friend for the only thing he cared about was his life and fun. He moved back to San Francisco and decided to get his life back as a faithful man (Kelly 112). Cultural influence The theme of cultural and lifestyle change is highlighted through Dean. As soon as Sal becomes friends with Sal the two becomes travelling friend under the company of a female friend (Kelly 78). This is contrary to the life followed by Sal who always spent time with family and his wife. The change in personality can be attributed to the lack of enjoying life at the appropriate time. Through out the novel the novel depicts Sal as unfit to the new life of fun. However, in Dean this came natural as he made friends with everyone they encountered. In terms of relationships, the novel uses Dean to show the nature of the society in terms of finding companionship. Dean never had the urge for commitment as he had relations with many women. On the other hand, Sal never wanted that life but peer influence and the urge for new experiences he often fell into temptation (Kelly 39). In regards to Sal’s previous life, one could easily point out that Dean created this negative change into Sal’s character. Minus Dean’s character the author would not be able to show an influencing factor on Sal’s life and they would fail to depict the differences in lifestyles. Spiritual influence While introducing Sal in the novel, he had a calm and satisfied spirit. He was satisfied with everything in his life as he appreciated the little bits and steps his life was taking. With the introduction of Dean, his nature of spirit changed. He suddenly became unsettled as he sought solace in drinking and vising night clubs. In an argument by Kelly Sal’s spirit became unsettled with the introduction of new experience under the influence of Dean (44). The role of Dean in this case was to introduce and establish a new spirit in Sal that was friendly to his wild spirit. However, the spiritual change in Sal did not last as he regained back is calm spirit after an experience of betrayal. The role of Dean in the Novel is an around application of life in the modern century and the effects of peer pressure. The analyses on the personal, cultural and spiritual influence on Sal’s life are based on the introduction of Dean’s character. The personal influence however, ended in as a positive impact on Sal’s life as he felt the transformation in his life at the end. However, the cultural and spiritual influences impacted negatively on Sal’s life as he lost most of his ethical and moral holdings. Works cited Kelly, Kelvin. Jack Kerouacs On the Road. New York: Research & Education Association. 1996. Print. Read More