How does Sal feel about the industrialization of modern America? This question immediately makes me think about Sal’s trip to theMississippi river. Though he could see his river, his vision was impairedby a chain link fence.
Sal see first hand the effect of industrializationin America and is definitely not partial to it. At the same time, he seesthe extreme loneliness that is spawned from not industrializing. The vastemptiness of the West and the Mid-West is all the more reason for buildingup and giving the people more to do. To Sal there is an internal battlebetween desire and necessity. Why is Sal continually drawn to the west? What is the difference of East and West with Sal? East is drab, full of intellectuals, and, to Sal boring. The West isuntamed and new, Dean being the spirit.
With Dean’s temptation of the West,Sal becomes bored with his intellectual friends. So he goes west to seethis curious land and has a change in perspective. Once he is in the West,the East is “brown and holy” and the West is empty. How is the reader supposed to interpret Deans actions? In what light is he to be shown? At first Dean is described as a wild and immature westerner that hasinfiltrated New York’s finest. He is “the spirit of the west” as Sal putsit and acts like it.
Throughout the novel, Dean is portrayed as the personthat Sal wants to be and Sal loves him. (By the way, there has been somespeculation that Dean and Sal are gay). By the end of the novel, about thetime Sal wakes up in Mexico, Sal sees that Dean is not only sexist, but ajerk for leaving Sal alone. In what ways do Dean and Sal have problems with women? Dean is womanizer.
He goes through 3 wives and who knows how manyflings in about 3 years. He just stays with them for a little while andthen takes off with Sal. This causes Dean’s wives to divorce. Sal on theother hand loses women because of lack of desire and opportunity. He has toleave Terry and go back to New York but she never finds him like she saidshe would. Lucille is a not a very good choice because she is married.
Wewon’t even talk about his chance encounter with the waitress that wasnothing but fling. Would Sal have been able to go on all of his travels if his aunt had not been so supportive? In Sal’s first trip Sal’s aunt send him money so he could get home. IfSal’s aunt wasn’t so able to send the money, Sal most likely would not havehad such a good feeling about all his other trips and he would have had amuch hard time getting home. He would have known that if he got stranded,no one would help him out. .
