Jack Kerouac’s On The Road - The Impact of Dean on Sals Identity Essay

Impact of Dean on Sal's Identity in On the Road       In part I, chapter 3 of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Sal arrives at Des Moines and checks into a cheap, dirty motel room. He sleeps all day and awakens in time to witness the setting sun. As he looks around the unfamiliar room, Sal realizes that he doesn't understand his own identity. Identity lost, he states "I was half way across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future." He has lost the calming influence of his aunt, and Dean and partners are not around to feed his wild streak. The only clues to his identity are to be found in the strange motel room. This appeal to emotion gives the reader personal hints to identify with.    Many people have become lost in the context of their life and do not understand what they have been doing or what the purpose of existence is. The manner in which Kerouac relates his own feelings to the dark, soothing atmosphere of the room gives the reader a clear idea as to what he is experiencing. This appeal to style lulls the reader into contemplation concerning their... ... of my life you could call my life on the road." Sal needed Dean to have an identity. In fact, as much of a driving force that Dean was, in the end, Dean and Sal needed each other to balance out the holes in their personalities.       Bibliography    Charters, Ann. Kerouac: A Biography. New York: A Warner Communications Company, 1973.    Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. United States of America: Penguin, 1976.    Tytell, John. Naked Angels: the Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.