Selasa, 22 Desember 2015
On the Road Essay
Mark Aruda
FYSH
Brotherhood.
Being a brotherisn'talways an easy task and the reason behind it is that you can?t choose who your brother is but you still have love and protect him unconditionally. Many people call others their brother or ?bros? and they love those people in a similar way as a brother, but it?s easier because they are able to break off that connection if that person changes. Brotherhood is special because brothers love each other no matter what happens and can?t break that connection. Dickey and Mickey Ward are a perfect example of brothers who love each other despite their different life choices. Sal and Dean Moriarty from On the Road by Jack Kerouac have a similar brotherly love that is comparable to Dickey and Mickey Ward. The relationship between Mickey and Dickey Ward is similar to Sal and Dean Moriarty because they have similar personalities, a similar relationship, and a similar journey.
Dean Moriarty and Dickey Ward act in a similar way. Dean Moriarty is first described as ?a young jail kid shrouded in mystery. Then news came that Dean was out of reform school.?(Kerouac 1) Dean isn?t happy with his life, he just came out of reform school and he wants to become an intellectual. He attempts to change his ways, but he is still a careless, young, womanizer. A similar unhappiness and recklessness is shown in Dickey Ward in The Fighter. Dickey Ward was a hero for Lowell. When he came back he started doing crack and lost his way. He became similar to Dean Moriarty a careless mess that did whatever he wanted. The strange thing about these two characters is that they aren?t hated by the audience or readers. The reason why Dean and Dickey aren?t hated is because they are just a mess. The audience and readers feel sorry for everything that has happened to them they don?t know what they want in life and are basically going in circles. There is one more similarity between the two, they both are thought of as some type of hero, Dean is thought of by Sal as the hero of the west and Dickey is thought of as the hero of Lowell. Dean and Dickey balance out their calm, perceptive, and sensitive ?brothers.?
Sal Paradise and Mickey Ward are the protagonists of their respective stories and they change in similar ways. Sal Paradise is very perceptive and he has to be because he is a writer. He is also a very personable person that is nice to everyone; the problem is that he has many acquaintances and few friends. All of these loose connections that he has with people cause him to feel alone and not really connecting with people. One example of this is with his ?friend? Eddie who he meets on the road, ?Eddie turned out to be a pretty absent-minded pal of the road. A funny old contraption rolled by, driven by an old man; it was made of some kind of aluminum, square as a box- a trailer, no doubt, but weird, crazy Nebraska homemade trailer. He was going very slow and stopped. We rushed up; he said he could only take one; without a word Eddie jumped in and slowly rattled from my sight, and wearing my wool plaid shirt.? (Kerouac 21) Mickey Ward also has a problem of being alone in The Fighter. Mickey has always been told what to do by his family and he feels unhappy because he feels like a slave to his family. Mickey?s family doesn?t really want the best for him and that?s when he starts to make his own decisions. The final similarity is that Mickey and Sal in the end change and find joy and confidence in their life.
The relationships between these characters are what make these stories interesting. These stories show the strong bonds of brotherhood. Both Mickey and Sal think of their companions as some sort of hero, because of this they tend to ignore some of their lesser qualities. This idea of a hero is different than the type of heroes in Greek literature, they are more personal and it is very common in brothers, especially the younger. Sal admits that he thinks of Dean as a brother, ?Yes, and it wasn?t only because I was a writer and needed new experiences that I wanted to know dean more, and because my life hanging around the campus had reached the completion of its cycle and was stultified, but because, somehow, in spite of our difference in character, he reminded me of some long-lost brother; the sight of his suffering bony face with the long sideburns and his straining muscular sweating neck made me remember my boyhood in those dye-dumps and swimholes and riversides of Paterson and Passaic.?(Kerouac 7) One important thing to notice is how Sal mentions his suffering face. Sal sees this and feels that he needs to help and protect him. Mickey sees a similar pain and suffering in Dickey and he is always willing to protect him. The suffering is evident in Dickey?s physical appearance because of all the drugs that he?s on. A good example of Mickey protecting his brother is when he gets his hand beaten in by the police trying to stop his brother from getting arrested. In both these relationships the characters are protected from harm by their brother.
Another similarity between their relationships is that the younger ?brothers? are forced to be on their own. This was discussed earlier, but the aspect of the brothers chasing after their brotherswasn'tmentioned. Sal follows Dean around the country and several times Dean ditches Sal, some of the more memorable times where this happened were in San Francisco and Mexico, ?When I got better I realized what a rat he was, but then I had to understand the impossible complexity of his life, how he had to leave me there, sick, to get on with his wives and woes, ?Okay, old Dean, I?ll say nothing.? ? (Kerouac 302) Sal admits that leaving him was a jerk thing to do, but he overlooks this. Mickey Ward had a similar time in his life when he was on his own and had to find his way. There was a time where Mickey was training without Dickey which was new for Mickey he had always trained with Dickey. Mickey felt a similar ditched feeling and felt a bit disoriented. Dean and Dickey have a similar personality where they move quickly and don?t really pay attention to others.
Dickey Ward and Dean Moriarty have similar personalities because they are reckless, energetic, and unhappy with where they are in life. Mickey Ward and Sal Paradise are similar because they are both feel alone trying to find their way through life. The relationships between these characters are strong brotherly bonds where they will protect each other no matter what. Another important part of this relationship is that the younger ?brother? is left on his own to find his own way and they realize they need their brother. Brotherhood is a strong term and cannot be taken lightly, it symbolizes a strong bond more than a friendship.
Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Penguin, 1976. Print.
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