Free Essay about Jack Kerouac, The Father of Modern Prose

I am putting down this piece of writing expressing the love I have for your work. Over time your wise words have not only entertained me, but also they have acted as a source of motivation and mentorship in my life. The books you wrote are a source of knowledge to many, and the themes you tackled are still relevant in the modern society. You are an idol of many writers across the world.

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One of the key lessons which I learned from your work is in relation to love and sex life. We as youths of the current generation are involved much in these two things in life. We are easily trapped in love life and rust for sex. We tend to easily fall into short-term relationships which always end up in breakups. These break-ups have led many of us into drug abuse and alcoholism. I like how you address this theme in the book. Dean who wants to marry every girl that he meets in his life. Kerouac (1999) book stated:

Dean got up nervously, paced around, thinking, and decided the thing to do was to have Marylou make breakfast and sweep the floor. In other words, we've got to get on the ball, darling, what I'm saying, otherwise it'll be fluctuating and lack of true knowledge or crystallization of our plans. Then I went away (pg.I.1.4).

He does not differentiate love or rust, and he is always after sexual satisfaction. This reflects what many of us youths are going through in recent times. On the note, I learn a lot from character Sal who only treasures long-term love relationships which are beneficial to life. He wants sex if there are future commitments to it. The comparison of these two characters gives us the youths a moral lesson that we should behave like the character Sal while looking for lovers in life. The lesson is that we should be very cautious of the peoples we fall for and only focus our hearts to those who we can settle with them for the rest of our lives.

I love the way you tackle the theme of time which is a bone of contention in the modern society. Everyone especially the youths want to rush about the things in life. Many of us lack an essential attribute in life which is patience. For instance, we as the youths want to read, have relationships, and become rich at the same time in life. It's like we are on the road trying to catch up with everything in life. The theme of time is also revealed in the book "On the Road" by the character Dean who is after time. The character is in need of moving on and beating time in his life. It's like he fears death, or insane or in a worry that he will die before enjoying some things in life. From the character Dean, I learn always to take my time in life and focus on one thing at a time, and the important things in life should come first. Rushing upon things in life only brings about mistakes and regrets in the future.

I get to learn the vital theme of friendship in life which you address in your book. From the two characters Sal and Dean, I learn how to choose friends in life. Friends who can help you at the time of your utmost need. Friends who can reciprocate the love I have for them. Sal loves his friend Dean very much to the point of "worshiping" him in life. But we learn that Dean does not show the same amount of love to Sal but instead, he leaves him to starve twice. Through the friendship between Dean and Carlo, I get to learn another form of friendship which is based on mutual interest and goals.

This is the kind of relationship which is beneficial in life. Such friendship is based on trust and brotherhood. Through your inspirations from this book, I only allow friends who can add some value to my life and stay away from those who cannot transform me in any way.

In the book, you have addressed obsession or spirituality in a young man's life. In recent times we as youths are obsessed by many things in life. As a youth I get to learn a lot from how you have covered this theme in your book

Kerouac (1999) wrote that:

Dean had dispatched the occupant of the apartment to the kitchen, probably to make coffee, while he proceeded with his love problems, for to him sex was the only holy and important thing in life, although he had to sweat and curse to make a living and so on (pg. I.1.4)

I used to be obsessed with the lifestyle of many celebrities in the modern world. But I failed always to ask myself the life behind the "mask" they always wear when in front of the camera. Your book helped me learn that the perfectness they put in front of us is not always like that. The life they display in most cases is mostly a lie. From the book, Sal sees Dean as holy and unique from other criminals, but this is not the case in Deans real life. In your book, Dean sees musicians as a God and values them more than life itself. This is a significant lesson for our youths, and your writing reminds me that I should not idolatrize anyone in life as no one is perfect.

Your book advised me on art and culture. A person's culture talks millions about himself. Some people can judge you according to your culture and lifestyle. In the book, Dean loves music and idolatrizes some musicians as Gods

Kerouac (1999) wrote:

At this time, 1947, bop was going like mad all over America. The fellows at the Loop blew, but with a tired air, because bop was somewhere between its Charlie Parker Ornithology period and another period that began with Miles Davis. And as I sat there listening to that sound of them. The light which bop has come to represent for all of us, I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were all in the same vast backyard doing something so frantic and rushing-about (pg. I.3.2).

He loves jazz music which is a music genre which many people associate it with drugs and madness. I learn that in life I should be very cautious of the things I associate myself with as people are likely to judge me for what I do. A person's culture is his or her sense of belonging. A person's culture is critical as it's what he or she identifies himself with. Art and culture are the mirrors of the society.

There has been an increase in criminality in the modern society, and there is much we can borrow from your book. The character Dean and his friends are involved in many criminal activities which makes him end up in jail. Although the book somehow makes us feel sympathy for Dean and his friends, there is much we can learn from it. Many youths have involved themselves in criminal activities with many of them belonging to a particular gang. The fact that Dean ends up in jail should act as an important lesson in life that involvement in crimes will always put us in trouble.

In your book, you address the theme of mismanagement of money. This is a massive challenge for our youths. Most of us spend almost the same as we earn. We are stuck in the life of drugs, pre-marital sex, and alcoholism where we spend all our money. And from what we see later in the book it only brings a problem to the dean as he ends up in jail. His friend regrets later in the book.

Kerouac (1999) said that:

Montana Slim was asleep. He woke up and said to me, Hey, Blackie, how about you and me investigating' Cheyenne together tonight before you go to Denver? "Sure thing." I was drunk enough to go for anything (pg. I.4.8, I.4.9).

And since most of us lack a constant flow of money, we engage ourselves in criminal activities. Others are a burden to our relatives as we keep on asking money now and then. From your book, we learn that the management of money is essential in a young man's life. With proper management, one can live for tomorrow rather than what we see nowadays where people especially the youths spending almost as much as they earn.

I love how your book brings out the theme of poverty. With such an immoral society, poverty is inevitable. From this theme, I learn that immorality in a community can hurt the most disadvantaged individuals in a particular social setting. But it's only the mighty, like the likes of Dean who can survive in such an environment. Such people take advantage of their gang members to benefit themselves. The rest of the community is left to suffer to a point where most of the cannot even afford to get the basic needs in life. Therefore, I learn that for a country to eliminate poverty, it must curb cases of immorality.

I like how you manipulated the structure of the words as we know it in our language and at the same time not editing the phrase or the words in your powerful words and compositions. I particularly liked how you incorporated irony in the above phrase which reveals the real traits of the two characters, i.e., Dean and Carlo Marx. I loved how this sole ingenuity created a nice sounding flow-like at the same time. Such kind of compositions is hard to find amongst the modern writers.

Your book is full of important lessons in life which a person especially the youths can learn from. Since the book revolves around two friends, who are out-going and are ready to do anything in life for them to fit in it. I get to learn that as young people we should not be driven by the greed of wanting everything in life and instead we should take every moment in life at a time. This impatience in like will only lead us into temptations, and since we cannot afford what we admire our minds and lousy friendship company will lead us to crimes. Where we may end up in jail. With all these lessons in life, your book does not only show the lifestyle of youths in the sixty's but also as a reflection of what is happening in the modern day society. It is easier for one to read your book since one can relate what is happening in his or her life with your sweet narrations.

REFERENCE

Kerouac, J. (1999). On the Road.