Dean is a important character, but i don’t think that he is the center of the novel. I believe this because i tend to always see the main center character as the author or who the author personifies themselves as, in this case Sal. Also a center character to me is one who grows in the novel, one who adapts, changes etc. Dean is already portrayed as many things, like smart, cool, guy with all the girls etc, Sal in the other hand is the one in which needs learning, so thats why i think dean can’t be a center character because he is already up there in the sense of life, whereas Sal still is developing. This also connects to why Sal admires Dean so much, because of his success, he see’s him as this mysterious man that he needs to unveil.
Professor Laura Westengard
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Very good point, Joshua. Dean does change a bit in the novel, but instead of growth he becomes more insane, selfish, and a little pathetic. Would you consider this a kind of adaptation/change?
I see Sal as a narrator. But his focus, is not only Dean, but the things he wants to be. The center of the novel can be seen as growth, sure. It can be seen as a lot of things, but I think that even when he changes his feelings of Dean, Sal is still bringing him up. It’s like me and the things I dont like. I am clearly still give those things attention- even by just saying I dislike them.
I never thought of it that way, but i see your point. I agree that Sal admires Dean because he opens Sal to knew things that Sal is very fascinated by, and the Dean was that little push Sal needed from the beginning to get out of his shell. Dean is mentioned a lot through out the book I do believe that it is only because as Sal experiences new things he somewhat sees that this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t met Dean.