Identity of Women in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road Essay

The Identity of Women in On The Road The women in Jack Kerouacs work, On The Road, are portrayed as superficial and shallow, while the men display depth in character. Women are stereotyped as falling into one of three categories; virginal, maternal or promiscuous, and, throughout the novel, are referred to in a facetious, derogatory manner. ‘Sal’, the protagonist, expresses sexist attitudes, which are a result of both his upbringing and societal attitudes of the time. Although the novel does highlight the problem of sexism, ultimately it does nothing to criticise it, but in fact projects it. In On The Road, there are many instances in which female identity is diminished. These arise in the novel’s treatment of†¦show more content†¦In the novel, women have little dialogue. Their speech consists of phrases such as go ahead and do me or oh, poor baby. A slight twist on this is the character of Terry. Though only in the book briefly, she has lengthy dialogue (in comparison with the other female characters), and a relatively significant role. She is perceived by Sal as fulfilling his sexual desires and his desire for a maternal figure. He does not credit her character with much more than this. Then, Sal decides to leave Terry. This is something that should not have been as easy as it was for Sal. He is leaving his little family and he seems not to care too much. This may not be extremely severe but it does call into question his opinion of Terry and of women in general. Did he really care so much for her? Does he possibly feel that she is nothing he can not fi nd anywhere else? He relies on his Aunt to provide money for his departure, possibly substituting one mother figure for another. A notable aspect in dealing with Terrys identity, is that, after Sal leaves, she is again categorized as promiscuous. This can be seen in Sal’s conversation with the farmer in whose barn he has been sleeping. The farmer says You going with that Mexican floozy? and Sal only says Shes a very nice girl. There is no contradiction on his part. He does not say Shes no floozy. I love her. He says she is ‘nice’, as if justifying his being with a floozy. The essenceShow MoreRelatedLost Generation vs Beat Generation2771 Words   |  12 PagesA Comparison between Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac in Context of their Corresponding Literary Periods Introduction While reading Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road I have noticed that the author Ernest Hemingway is mentioned quite often in the book. This has raised my interest to focus my research on the following. 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