I believe that Dean Moriarty is the center and motivation of this novel. Sal states that he likes Dean because of his exuberance, eagerness, uneducated intelligence, and what he sees as his Western spirit, and also feels like Dean is a long lost brother. Sal admits to being interested in Dean as a writer needing new experiences. Dean represents the freeness to explore and lives a carefree lifestyle. For example, Dean has new girlfriend name Camille, and is running back and forth from Marylou to Camille, lying and making love to both of them. He doesn’t care about the choices he makes and is just enjoying life. Sal admires Dean because of this adventurous and exciting lifestyle.
Professor Laura Westengard
Email: lwestengard@citytech.cuny.edu
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You make a really good point here about Dean’s association with the “Western spirit.” This seems to be an ideal that Sal is almost obsessed with and that he certainly romanticizes throughout the text.