sappointment. High expectations for parties or a hope to make it across the country using only one road are just two example of the blind optimism seen throughout the novel. While the headstrong characters of the novel run about the country thinking that everything will be all right, the actuality remains that most situations end in sorrow or adversely affected lives. Picking up hitchhikers who ultimately fail to have the gas money they promised, parties that end in disaster or argument, and emotionally abused wives and lovers almost always win out over the brand new car that might take them to Mexico or exultation that is sure to find them within the walls of a jazz club.The influence of Dean Moriarty on the novel, in terms of everything from plot to general tone to the thoughts and dreams of Sal, is immeasurable. Most importantly though, he is the catalyst for much of this blind optimism – for in a sense, he personifies blind optimism. During the long introduction of Dean in the first chapter, Sal shows the vast impression that Dean will have on the tone of the novel: all my New York friends were in their negative, nightmare position of putting down society and giving their bookish or psychoanalytical reasons, but Dean just raced in society, eager for bread and love; he didn’t care one way or the other (Kerouac, 7).Dean’s refusal to look at the world with a disapproving eye and always having hope for simple things like food and sex exemplify his personification of optimism. This early passage of the novel shows that Dean will - and eventually does - become the driving force in the optimism that marks much of the book. Dean’s lust for life guides himself and Sal to places such as jazz clubs, old friends’ houses, and even Mexico. But with Dean as well as the cohorts that follow his madness, (Sal, Ed Dunkel, Carlo Marx and many more) the result ends up being much less than ideal, despite the fact that...
