On the Road The Beat Generation & Jack Kerouac

The Beats A small group of friends turned into a movement – Jack Kerouac – Allen Ginsberg – Neal Cassady – William S. Burroughs – John Clellon Holmes

The Beats Started in uptown Manhattan in the mid-1940s Migrated to San Francisco and picked up other like-minded friends

The Beat Generation “If today’s Generation X” (or “Gen Y” or whatever it’s called) is like Woodstock, the Beat Generation was like a small dark tavern at two in the morning, with a bunch of old jazz musicians jamming on stage and Jack Kerouac buying rounds at the bar.”

The Beat Generation “The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked.”

The Beat Generation “Beat”: bad, ruined, spent – defeat, resignation, disappointment Young men who “came of age” during World War II but couldn’t fit in as clean-cut soldiers or professional businessmen They had to struggle to survive – and couldn’t sit still

The Beat Generation “Beat”: beatific, holy, sacred Kerouac was a devout Catholic and wanted to capture the “secret holiness” of the downtrodden

Jack Kerouac Born Jean-Louis Kerouac on March 12, 1922 Spoke joual, a French dialect, before learning English Youngest of three children

Jack Kerouac Won a football scholarship to Columbia University in New York Fought with the coach Dropped out and joined the military Took cross-country trips with Neal Cassady and started working on his novel

Jack Kerouac & On the Road Wrote about his trips – Exactly as they happened – Without pausing to edit, fictionalize, or even think – With no paragraph marks – In stream-of-consciousness style Myths : – Presented his manuscript on a single roll of unbroken paper, 120-feet long – In three weeks Faced seven years of rejection prior to publication

Jack Kerouac & On the Road Achieved sudden celebrity: “Jack went to bed obscure and woke up famous” Encountered spiritual and moral decline Developed a severe drinking habit Moved back to Long Island to live with his mother Died on October 21, 1969

On the Road “If you read On the Road, it’s a valentine to the United States. All this is pure poetry almost a boy’s love for his country that’s just gushing in its adjectives and descriptions. You know, Kerouac used to say, ‘Anybody can make Paris holy, but I can make Topeka holy.’”

On the Road Gave a voice to a rising, dissatisfied fringe of the young generation of the late 1940s and early 1950s A cast of restless, idealistic youth who yearn for something more than the bland conformity of a generally prosperous society

On the Road Colorful characters: – Jack Kerouac = Sal Paradise – Neal Cassady = Dean Moriarty (an “archetypal American Man” – Allen Ginsberg = Carlo Marx – William Burroughs = Bull Lee