The Quest for Family The 1950’s were a decade of growth and expansion. Growth of the middle class, expansion of religion and a growing economy kept Americans on the move- literally. Families were moving from the cities and into the suburbs. “This massive shift in population from the central city was accompanied by a baby boom that started during World War II. Young married couples began to have three, four, or even five children (compared with only one or two children in American families during the 1930’s) (The American Story, pg. 729).
This style of living began making the immediate family isolated from the extended family, making the extended family a thing of the past. “For many families, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and more distant relatives would become more distant figures seen on only special occasions” (The American Story, pg. 732).
These new living standards were the result of a booming economy.
The economic explosion was a result of the culmination of the war- Americans were no longer faced with the hardships of the depression and could indulge in material goods. This meant television, automobiles, or any other item from the long list of novelties that Americans craved found their way into the suburbs too. Religion also found its way into these communities. “Ministers priests and rabbis all commented on the rise in church and synagogue attendance in the new communities… religious affiliation had become the primary identifying feature of modern American life, dividing the nation into three separate segments- Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish.” (The American Story, pg. 732).
The Essay on The Change of the American Family
The American family has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. During the 1950s, the Cleavers on the television show “Leave it to beaver” epitomized the American family. In 1960, over 70 percent of all American households were like the Cleavers: made up of a breadwinner father, a homemaker mother, and their kids. Today much of the recent research indicates the traditional American family is ...
With all of this materialistic, religious and economic growth, the American Identity seemed to look like it was cut out of a cookie cutter- everyone seemed to be conforming to the same ideal- but that about those who did not have that “cookie cutter” life? Jack Kerouac was one of these people who were not living the typical American life. He and others like him were labeled as the “beats” because they “walked to the beat of a different drum” in comparison to the ideal. His book On the Road was the beginning of what is known now as the beat movement, telling of his adventures of traveling across America for seven years. What was he searching for on this journey and why? I am going to argue that Kerouac was searching for a family and that his search was fueled by the 50’s mindset. “I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up.” This was the first sentence of Kerouac’s story and it definitely sets the stage for the first thing he is searching for: family. Kerouac’s “fictional” character “Sal Paradise” (I say “fictional” because really Sal is Kerouac- he reveals his thoughts and feelings through this character) is immediately intrigued with Dean, and Sal is searching for companionship in Dean.
Unfortunately, when Dean met Carlo Marx, Sal knew that his need for companionship would not be met with Dean. “From that moment on I saw very little of Dean, and I was a little sorry too. Their energies met head-on, I was a lout compared, I couldn’t keep up with them” (On the Road, pg. 5).
After Dean and Carlo moved west to Denver, Sal knew he had to join them. “I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me” (On the Road, pg.
5).
This also exemplifies his need for companionship. While on the road to Denver, Sal looked for a temporary “family” and found camaraderie in Eddie. “He reminded me of my cousin in-law from the Bronx” (On the Road, pg. 17).
The fact that he correlated a relationship between this stranger from the road and his cousin- in – law proves that family is important to him.
The Essay on On The Road By Jack Kerouac
At first glance, the novel On The Road and the film The Wall by Pink Floyd seem to have very little in common. The novel is a story about two young men, Sal and Dean, who travel the country in search of good times. The film is about a man, Pink, trapped in his life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Upon closer inspection though, one can see that there are many common underlying themes. I will ...
A cousin- in -law is typically not a very close relative but it was important to have some resemblance of his family in this person or he would not have traveled with him. “That was why I stuck with him. It was like having an old friend along” (On the Road, pg. 17).
After a brief stop in Denver to see Dean, and not being successful in bonding with this dynamic character, Sal moved on to San Francisco to give himself a new type of family.
He stayed with his friend Remi and Remi’s girlfriend Lee Ann, but when the “family” atmosphere wore off and relationships were getting rough, Sal left and made his way to Los Angeles. “LA is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities; New York gets god-awful cold in the winter but there’s a feeling of wacky comradeship somewhere in the streets” (On the Road, pg 86).
Luckily he had Terry, a Mexican woman he met on the way to the city for companionship. He ended up following her to her hometown and took care of her and her son for a while.
He spoke of them very affectionately, but again when things got rough he was gone. The best evidence that Sal was searching for a family was when he admitted to Dean that he wanted to get married and the purpose of his journey thus far was to find a woman he wanted to marry. “I couldn’t meet a girl without saying to myself, What kind of wife would she make?” (On the Road, pg 116-117).
Why would Kerouac be so eager to get married? It was a result of the 50’s mindset..
