Why does Sal/Jack decide to head West? What is it about Dean/Neal that draws him to the road? Consider, too, the quote below as you shape your response:
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' (5-6)
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Sal heads West because he sees opportunity for a new life there. It is a chance to leave his East life behind, and to reinvent himself. “I could hear a new call and see a new horizon,” (pg. 8) The West will give Sal new experiences which will give him new material for writing. The West is also very appealing because Dean is there. In Sal’s eyes Dean is “a very amazing maniac”. (pg. 50) This is the reason why Sal admires Dean. Being a “mad-man” makes Dean unique, and one of a kind. “Dean had the tremendous energy of a new kind of American Saint,” (pg. 38) Sal is obsessed with madness. He believes everything in his world is crazy, confusing, frantic, and mad. Dean embodies this world.
Sal decides to head West because he is ready to break free of any boundaries he has while living at home with his aunt. He is ready to find himself as a person, as well as a writer. "He wanted so much to live" (4) because he felt this "live life to the fullest" vibe from Dean who has influenced him to take to the road and head West.
He wished to travel particularly West because he saw Dean as "a western kinsman of the sun" (8); a free-spirited man who was full of new experiences, which Sal is looking for as a growing writer.
As Dean becomes an influence upon Sal's life as a writer, Sal "could here a new call and see a new horizon" (8) for his future. Sal observes that his new friends, Dean and Carlo, are "roman candles" (6) because they are energetic and burn with this great flame but do not waste any time to live life so they burn out moments after being lit, rather than slowly dying with boredom. As they are lit they are not just burning but they are making the most of this flame, flickering with excitement as they live freely and independently. This is the life Sal wants for himself to fill his life with adventure, excitement, and most importantly, new experiences.
From the author’s last name, Paradise, we can imagine that Sal/Jack is looking for a paradise. He wants to get out of the boundaries and find a new way of living and thinking. He sees west as free, energetic, vital, and is drawn to that “flame” by witness Dean/Neal’s emancipated spirit. He uses three “burn” in a row to alter the madness of living and talking of Dean/Neal. Although the “candles”(like Dean/Neal) burn brightly, they also burn briefly. With “pop”, the “flame” will be gone. Sal/Jack wants to be full of life and enjoys the Western spirit. West is unrestrained, open, and new to Sal/Jack. He is calling to the adventure as the last paragraph of passage one alludes.
Ever since Sal Paradise met Dean, he wanted a new life. He decides to head west not only because he wants to look inside himself and open up, he wants to find an adventure so he can write about it. When Sal says he only hangs out with madmen who burn like a roman candle and then fizz out, he is referring to people that would live life to the fullest and go away with a bang rather than people that lead a monotonous life and slowly fade away. Dean is exactly the type of guy that is a madman. When Dean goes to Colorado, Sal wants to follow him because he is positive that he would find an adventure wherever Dean goes.
Sal decides to go west to find opportunities to take off as a writer. Sal gets drawn to the open road because Dean goes off every year and comes back with many stories. If Sal goes on the journey with him, he will meet new people. "Somewhere along the line the pearl would be handed to me," (pg 8). He knows that if he goes on his journey, then eventually he will have his paradise.
Sal decides to head west because he sees himself living a better life there. He sees better opportunities for himself. Sal's looking for his paradise. A place where there's no boundaries and he can think differently. He wants to find an adventure so he can write about it. Sal thinks Dean is the man that will take him to this paradise. He likes Dean's outlook on life and admires his free spirit. Sal wants to live Dean's madness.
My bad forgot to write my name, Zach Bradanick
Sal decides to head west because he sees himself living a better life there. He sees better opportunities for himself. Sal's looking for his paradise. A place where there's no boundaries and he can think differently. He wants to find an adventure so he can write about it. Sal thinks Dean is the man that will take him to this paradise. He likes Dean's outlook on life and admires his free spirit. Sal wants to live Dean's madness.
Sal decides to head west because he needs change. He sees Carlo and Dean and there connection to the west and there wild sense of adventure. It seems that Sal gets excited about meeting his friends again, "I tingled all over; I counted minutes and subtracted miles"(35). He came all this way to experience the wild of the west the crazy precision of such a wild man as Dean is; "The most frantic parking lot attendant in the world", (6).
Sal heads west because he wants to discover a different side of himself. He is also looking for inspiration as a writer to write about things he has yet to experience. He knows his life on the east coast and he understands the way of life living with his aunt. He is looking for different opportunities that lie ahead in the west. As he moves west he is finding a deeper meaning of his soul and is trying to find his self identity.
I think that Sal follows Dean out west because it gives him a chance in his thoughts to be with "the interesting people." He follows them because he seems to believe that Dean holds the answers to all of his writing problems. Dean is described to not exactly work hard for everything, but that everything and everyone comes to him. I think that with that in mind, Sal decides to go out west because he thinks it will be a start of a new life for him personally as well as his writing career.
Sal is searching for life experience in hopes of inspiring his writing. He looks out West as a symbol of freedom and openness, new territory still waiting to be discovered just like his writing. Sal’s friend Dean represents the uninhibited freedom which Sal wishes he had. As he latches on to Dean and the “new beat generation” he looks for an easy answer to finding a new life. Naïve and inexperienced, Sal expects Dean’s uniqueness to rub off and simply give him the crazy individuality he lacks.
well Sal goes west to find new ideas that will inspire his writing and to leave behind his old ways and everything in the east to start a new life full of different oppurtunities. More reason for sal to go is Dean is there who he thinks is an extrodinary person and the one who had the influence on him to head west.Sal is really just looking for new adventures in his life so he goes a different route for a different journey to benefit him.
Sal heads West to find a new beginning, a new chance to change himself and break all boundaries. He needs this trip for new material for his writing, to make him stand out from any other writer. He will learn and see new things everyday and will not be limited to any one or any thing. Sal is setting himself apart from his mother and going West to become independent. This will be a trip that will change Sal's life forever.
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