Search for Freedom in the Novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac (Essay Sample)

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Search for Freedom in the Novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac
Freedom is one of the most important things in human life. However, the paths taken by some people in search of freedom take them away from the realities of life and thus making it impossible to achieve that freedom. In the novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac Sal Paradise and Dean refuse to conform to the values of the society and indulge in irresponsible lavish life in search for freedom. From the Novel On The Road, one can claim that although Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise are looking for freedom in life, they are leaving it behind as they defy the realities of life which would be important in helping them to experience the freedom they are looking.
Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty have left a responsible life to live a reckless life in the name of freedom. Although it may appear as if Sal and his friend are looking for freedom and the meaning of life, their actions suggest otherwise. The kind of life they are living clearly shows that they are escaping from responsibilities in life. There are many instances in the novel where Sal's lack of seriousness is portrayed. His language clearly indicates that he takes many things for granted and he is even not truthful to his emotions. He responds to almost everything he experiences in life with exaggerations. To him, anything he encounters is the wildest, greatest, or saddest in life. One instance where his use of exaggeration language shows that he is escaping from life is when he says that the Nebraska farmer had “a great laugh, the greatest in the world”( Kerouac 21). He later describes Mr. Snow saying "whose laugh, I swear on the Bible, was positively and finally the one greatest laugh in all this world"(Kerouac 39). Sal uses this behavior as a defensive way of protecting himself from the realities of life. Although he is seeking the reality, he is unable to respond to situations in life with reality. He cannot even face his emotions with reality, and that is why he views every situation as being greatest, saddest, or wildest in the world.
Although Sal and Dean are always on the journey to seek life, they appear to leave it behind them. Their decisions, level of maturity, and emotions are far from the realities of life. It is ironical that Sal is seeking for freedom in life while with his iconic hero, Dean who behaves crazily. Sal is aware of Dean's madness, and yet he allows him to remain as his hero. When they dance the whole night with Carlos, Sal tells them “ If you keep on this up, you’ll both go crazy, but let me know what happens as you go along” (Kerouac 32). Sal does not only refuse to take the responsibility of others but also refuses to take self-responsibility. Instead to directing his life towards his destiny, he gets involved in a company of friends who live their lives without much care about the tomorrow. He is obsessed with satisfying his sensations instead of his emotions.
Sal prefers drugs to food, and he would rather buy drugs when he has no enough money but not food. When he is asked by Dean whether he has enough money, he says "Hell no, maybe enough for a pint of whiskey till I get to Denver. What about you" (Kerouac 16). They spend most of their times discussing pointless stories and are always in aimless trips. This shows how the two have lost self-control and indulged in irresponsible behaviors that are irrelevant and insignificant to their lives. Instead of seeing the kind of oppression and poverty in the ghetto, they see the joy that comes from freedom from responsibilities.
The kind of freedom that Sal and Dean are enjoying is more of escapism from life rather than freedom. Although they are looking for a good life, they are actually freeing themselves from the realities of life. They are escaping from responsible and rational adult life. Dean can be said to be completely free from the responsibilities in life because he has defied time, logic, and maturity. He has no obligations to lead a responsible life. All that matters in his life is drugs and luxuries. The narrator writes "Dean had dispatched the occupant of the apartment to the kitchen probably to make coffee, while he proceeded with his love problems, for him hanging with women was one and only Holy important thing in life, although he had to sweat and curse to make a living and so on” (Kerouac 2). After having abandoned all responsibilities in life, immoral desires had become the core of Dean's personality. Although Sal thinks he is looking for freedom, the life he is living is complicating his life even more. Sal, Dean and their friends are fleeing from heir identities rather than seeking or celebrati...