Most famously known for the road-going journal On the Road, Jack Kerouac uses imagery as an effective way to describe and explain situations he experiences and people he encounters throughout his career. In several of his autobigraphical novels, Kerouac explores his “self” through the eyes of fictionalized protagonists; for example, in On the Road he is Sal Paradise. Jack Kerouac wrote about his life from an objective vantage point to utilize the imagery his stories are filled with, capturing the moments on ever page.

With On the Road, Kerouac introduces a new stylistic manner of creation: spontaneous prose. With previous works, Kerouac mirrors the style of Thomas Wolfe’s writing; however he progressed, from that, into the style of spontaneous prose with On the Road and continued in the same with Big Sur. The reader may find the progression interesting, because Kerouac writes Big Sur after the onslaught of success and popularity he received after the publication of On the Road. Big Sur is the recounting of a man in the midst of becoming a reluctant cultural icon and a drunken slob. Kerouac struggles with his fame and money by using it to purchase large quantities of alcohol and turn what once planned to be a quiet “writing retreat” into a gathering of wild beatniks. Kerouac as Sal Paradise, we follow him through the motions of idealistic writer, eager to dig life and experience the world, scribbling it all down and offering true-grit tales – his way of life.

We sit with Sal Paradise during On the Road, analyzing and nodding our heads “yes” in agreement with the brilliant observations he makes. His use of imagery is profound and crystal clear – we are right there, digging life with Sal and his partner-in-crime, Dean Moriarty;

“Now we must all get out and dig the river and the people and smell the world,” said Dean, bustling with his sunglasses and cigarettes and leaping out of the car like a jack-in-the-box. On the Road, pg. 140

The imagery in this quote is used mainly to describe Dean Moriarty, a fast-paced guy with his own agenda and also lends the reader a view of how these “beatniks” stopped, quite literally, to smell the roses. This is all that matters in their lives, they have close to no money and they don’t care one bit. They dig.

In On the Road, Kerouac describes his adventures with Neal Cassady, otherwise coined as Dean Moriarty as the two venture from coast-to-coast and everywhere in between. They stop for life and take it without regret,

Where go? what do? what for? -sleep. But this foolish gang was bending onward. On the Road, pg. 167

Thus, summing up the pace of the crew, Sal shows there is never a set reason why they flit from place-to-place, because reason, to them, is not significant to their big picture. They push forward, ready to buy more and live more. We feel Sal’s mood an almost need to know what is to come and then a quiet acceptance to “sleep” – the two of both extremes, panic to surrender. We feel the atmosphere that Sal, as narrator, creates from the description ofthe group. As we read, we are enticed and want the inside story, wanting to stand beside Sal, thumbs in the air and waiting for the eventual ride;

Outside Tucson we saw another hitchhiker in the dark road. This was an Oakie from Bakersfield, California, who put down his story. “Hot damn, I left Bakersfield with the travel-bureau car and left my gui-tar in the trunk of another one…” On the Road, pg. 167

second half of essay later.