Friday, August 5, 2011
Kerouac and his love of language post 1
When I first started reading this book, the thing that caught my attention was the vivid pictures that Kerouac created with his extremely descriptive language. I could almost feel the “wild lyrical drizzling air of Nebraska” (chapter 4) and see the rose in the Hudson River journeying out to sea. (Ch2 pg. 12) Throughout the book Kerouac uses figurative language to almost paint a picture in the readers head. His love for language is most visible when Sal is journeying through the west trying to get to Denver. Sal uses a lot of descriptive words to describe the countryside and towns that he was passing through. Kerouac choice of making the narrator a writer was fitting. By giving Sal this profession, Kerouac could describe the setting without having to worry about his language. If Sal was a store owner or something like that, Kerouac would have had to use a different sort of language whenever Sal was narrating. He would have had to use the vocabulary of a store owner in New York. Kerouac’s love of language is visible in his characters and in the scenes he creates.
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Your comment about Kerouac's appropriate decision to introduce Sal as a writer is a very good point. I hadn't thought of that, but you're right, it was clever, because it assured that Sal's voice wasn't unrealistic.
This seems to prove Kerouac's love of language even more, because he couldn't stand the thought of altering his style of writing to fit a perhaps less eloquent person.
In addition to his love of language, though, it seems clear to me that Sal/Kerouac must have an incredibly strong passion for being on the road, and for America. I completely appreciate his love for the subject matter, because I think it also helps to enhance his writing.
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