In seach of value in Kerouac s On The Road

Does it have value?
This essay is the continuation of my analysis of the Beat generation. As Ginsberg praised life, I praise the essay format as it gives me the freedom of thought and self-expression. I’ve seen people who tried to write essays using the Jazz language and present it as something original when essay is freedom, many authors are close to this language only because this format doesn’t restrict you with a particular structure or form. Essays do not even require a conclusion, pure stream of thought. The point of the introduction is the curious similarity between the essay genre and the “Spontaneous prose” of Cassidy and Kerouac.
A few days ago I posted a poll on my wall in VK that touches an important and complicated matter of death penalties. 20% were for its existence, 40% were natural, 16% were against (there also were other options). Do you know, what percentage answered “I do not have an opinion on this matter”? Not a single person did. Since the very childhood we are asked to express our opinions on different issues. Were our thoughts valuable, were we even thinking and not following our social instincts while answering? The answer is pretty obvious. “On the road” is reality. In reality there is objectively no good and evil, 0% is the truth. There is only one question that matters – does it exist? If it does than it has value. So what do I think of the book? It exists.
In order for me to be true to myself, I should have ended my essay by now. But I have 800 words to write, so… I do have more thoughts about Kerouac and his generation. All I’m trying to do is avoid writing things you’ve come across dozens of times already. The second paragraph does not apply for every work of art but for the Beat generation’s works it fits perfectly. What is art, finding a rock and present it to the public or shaping it into something beautiful, spending hundreds of hours? Again, the answer is obvious. Beats painted the rock in colours they fancied and convinced the world it’s genius. Do I sound like a conservative? I certainly do. I’d better be a “Trump supporter” rather than adore people whose way of life was miserable and only partly poetic.
To be fair, I did not expect myself to go on a rampage against this generation. But I’m taking this issue personally. I have been writing since I was eleven and for me the job of a writer is the most noble and altruistic one. It is not enough for me to write the Hemingway’s truth. It has to look like reality but behind it there has to be an enormous amount of thought. Can Kerouac even be called a writer when the first edition of “On The Road” was nothing more than a pile of memories on paper? Kerouac’s view on art is lazy.
 "This is important because it happened to sacred me” is the philosophy of the Beat generation. But isn’t that what almost every single person thinks but is afraid to say to not be considered narcissistic? Kerouac embraced his narcissism and it was so contagious he made many of his readers believe he’s a genius. I find little literary value in this book and believe his admirers should develop a proper taste in art.
There are some key words in what I’ve written above which indicate that my opinion is not radical. Though symbolism and metaphors aren’t what makes good literature, some of them are worth pointing out. One of the main ideas of the book is that the road is life itself. Escapism helped Kerouac find himself, which is why he stayed at home in the end. I don’t think I should dig too deep into the symbolism because the religious influence on the writer made it hard to distinguish the author’s metaphors and the ones the reader makes up himself.
My conclusion is going to be pretty negative but I’m sure I’m not the one who thinks this way. First of all, the book is intellectually poor. According to Wikipedia, “Literature is writing considered as an art form, or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary usage”. It certainly passes with its unique for but the rest is strongly arguable. Secondly, “On The Road” can be called a list of facts that do not teach any good. For me it is a book about how NOT to spend your life. This is one of few cases when the movie is better than the book. It is smarter, more entertaining and meaningful.
Yes, I definitely should have stopped on the second paragraph.


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