For your next blog assignment, I'd like you to "dig" through the text, especially this past weekend's reading assignment, and find a passage that you'd like to respond to, mull over, think about, uncover, discover, interpret, and write about! You might consider one of the passages we discussed in class--e.g. Carlo Marx's curious question to Sal Paradise: "What is the meaning of this trip to New York? What kind of sordid business are you on now? I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car at night? (119)--or you can find one on your own. This is your journey, this is your experience. I want to hear from you. I want to read your words.
Your response to the passage that you choose (one paragraph in length) is due Wednesday, September 26, by the start of class.
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The quote on page 138 is, "He and I suddenly saw the whole country like an oyster for us to open; and the pearl was there, the pearl was there." The pearl is the prize for Sal because he works hard at achieving his life journey of finding him self. The shell of the oyster is the hard ships on the road as everyone in Dean and Sal's gang go though allot in the book so far. Sal looks at the country as the shell and realized that it will not be easy no matter what anyone treys to do. There are always trials that some people have to go though to get to the prize of self-awareness, which is the pearl. Sal sees that and so dues Dean so far on there long journey
On page 125, it says, "We only live once. We're having a good time." Dean is telling Sal why he lives life the way he does. It explains Dean's philosophy, stance, and views on everything he does. Dean is saying that since we only live once, that we should live it the best way I can. He also says, "We're having a good time." It is a curious way of saying the way he lives his life. It means that he is enjoying life already, that it has been good to him. He uses the word,"We," as in saying that his whole gang is enjoying the experience because of Dean.
“And all this time Dean was tremendously excited about everything he saw, everything he talked about every detail of every moment that passed. He was out of his mind with real belief.” (120)
Dean is an observer. Everything he sees and hears he translates into a brand new experience. All of America is open to his mad interpretation. Dean takes what is realistic and the norm, and warps it into his crazy ideas. Every last detail is important to how he builds his vision of America. Dean is driving himself crazy because he feels this is the best way to “dig” life. Dean speaks so much because he wants people to understand how he views life and America; he is trying to pass on his knowledge. And Sal is taking in all Dean’s crazy talk, he really listens to Dean. In a way Sal is Dean’s pupil.
What is the meaning of this trip to New York? What kind of sordid business are you on now? I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car at night? (119). The shiny car is a symbol. It symbolizes adventure and is a means of which to go on that adventure. The car is transportation as well as a new luxury during the time period. When Carlo asks Sal,"Whither goes thou" he is really asking why and what are you looking for. The answer to his question is that Sal is just looking for adventure and experiences which the "shiny car" will help him to find.
"I told him a dream about a strange arabian figure that was pursuing me across the desert...Now that I look back on it, this is only death:death will overtake us before heaven."p.124
This quote shows how Sal lived his life before he met dean. Sal was more worried about avoiding the figure chasing him rather than just living his own life and letting things happen.He thought it was trying to prevent him from reaching heaven. Though he realizes after he meets dean, that the figure is only death and he cannot control it. The only thing he can do is enjoy his life and death will come when the time is right.
"i want to marry a girl," I told them, "so i can rest my soul with her till we both get old. This cant go on all the time--all the franticness and jumping around. Weve got to go someplace, find something. (p.117)
I find this quote particularly appealing beacause this is the first time in the novel that i have witnessed sal seperating himself from Dean. For the first time, Sal comes to the realization that he cant live in Deans shadow for his entire life. He knows that at some point he need to settle down and find a wife to start a family. One thing i found interesting about this quote is that Sal just seemed to come right out with this comment completley out of the blue, on that winding country road in philadelphia. Throughtout the novel, i have noticed that Sal always seemes to find a waitress or regialr girl that he cant take his eye off of. Just like that one mexican waitress at a restaurant where he coudlnt leave because he was so impressed by her. In my opinion Sal is becoming to get bored with the lifestyle that he is living and is in search of something more. Sure he might be enjoying the adventure he is on at the present moment, but he knows that it will not last forever. I also believe that sal is lonely and is in search of a wife to "settle his soul". Maybe that is why he wantas to get out west so badly, to find his soulmate and to settle down and start a new life.
"What is the meaning of this trip to New York? What kind of sordid business are you on now? I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car at night? (119)
I chose this qoute because Carlo is questioning Sal on where he is going. He accuses Sal of trying to go on sordid buisness which means like vile or immoral. He then takes that statement back and asks in a more polite friendly way. This shows to me that Sal has changed in some way since being with Dean and Carlo sees that and the road trip as maybe an oppurtunity for Sal to possibly get into some trouble. When Carlo says where in America are you going with your shiny car it makes me think that this is where Sal and Deans inner strength is coming from as if they depend on the car. At this time a car symbolized adventure, the american dream, trips anything. You could go anywhere behind the wheel and this compliments Sals enthusiasm to go West. This is an important quote because Carlo talks as if Sal is getting big headed or possibly going outside his limits and i think its directed at he his shiny muscle of a car, he's feeling he could go any where on the open road and doesnt really know the unknown of what lies out there.
"...sometimes he had no hands on the wheel and yet the car went straight as an arrow, not for once deviating from the white line in the middle of the road that unwound..." (116) I chose this quote because it is comparing the road and driving to life and how life never stops. Comparing life to on the road, Jack is saying that no matter if your steering your life and take control of your life it is still going to keep going just like the car. The car just kept going even without Dean steering and having a control of it. Jack is also saying at this point in his life he is not steering, but it is still going straight and smooth and not have any problems just like the car did not turn off the road it just kept going straight on the road.
"I want to marry a girl," I told them, "so i can rest my soul with her till we both get old. This can't go on all the the time-all this franticness and jumping around. We've got to go someplace, find something" (p.117).
Always eager to escape from his problems with life this quote is ironic because it marks the first underlying moment when Sal is talking of setteling down. Throughout the novel we see strong evidence backing the notion of Sal always running away from his problems in life. When something doesn't go as well as he'd like he again packs up and moves on. Sal is in search of a new beginning and new memories to replace the old ones. When on the road he moves from city to city with a new girl at every destination. As he approaches his final destinations on the road his one night stands with girls grow and become more relationship like. Sal credits Terry as the girl who "brought my sould back" (97). In this moment Sal can see that girls can help him and ultimatly can be their for him. He becomes tired of living life running around without any aim. Aside from Sal transforming into a more mature person it is also a key moment that you can see how seperated Sal and Dean have become. After his adventure Sal has changed and has developed new ideas. Whereas Dean is constantly moving in search of a better trip. While Sal is getting more grounded with himself Dean is only growing to be less settled. Therefor this quote not only shows the development of Sal into a more mature person with his proposal of settling down but also how Dean and Sal are in search of different things. So Sal's infatuation with Dean is only going to lead Sal farther away from the dreams and ideas he ideally wants to reach.
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