3. In 1952 (when people still wrote letters to each other), Allen Ginsberg penned these words to Kerouac about the manuscript of On the Road: "I don't see how it will ever be published, it's so personal, it's so full of sex language, so full of our local mythological references, I don't know if it would make sense to any publisher." What is your reaction to this?
Reading On the Road, I can completely understand where Ginsberg is coming from; people did not write like this in the 1950s, and such honest, explicit, and personal works were very rare – if they existed at all – in this time of conformity and censorship. However, I do not think that this book would have been able to exist in the form that it does had Kerouac glossed over what occurred, made the book more “appropriate,” or left out the mythological references. The talk of sex in the book not only adds to the story, but it enables the reader to see characters such as Dean Moriarty (AKA Neal Cassady) in ways that would be impossible had the “sex language” been left out. Dean’s womanizing attitude, and the way he had serious relationships with both Marylou and Camille while sleeping with even more women, gives the reader serious insight into the kind of person Dean is. So much of Sal’s personal life revolved around woman, drinking, and the sort of activity that wouldn’t have been considered “appropriate” in 1950s America, that if Kerouac had attempted to leave it all out, or gloss over the details, he probably would have had to leave out 75% of his book…or turn it into a fictional work.
It is true that the local mythological references that Ginsburg wrote of in his letter to Kerouac didn’t always make sense, but with lines such as “I wondered what the Spirit of the Mountain was thinking, and looked up and saw jackpines in the moon, and saw ghosts of old miners, and wondered about it,” they add a intriguing and beautiful aspect to the book, and experiences such as the night of the Ghost of Susquehanna had powerful influences on Sal’s life and how he perceived the world, and excluding them from On the Road would have detracted from the book.
While Allen Ginsberg’s warning to Kerouac was a real one, the very things that concerned Ginsberg are what make Kerouac’s novel the masterpiece that it is, and neither On the Road nor Ginsberg’s poem Howl could have existed without the scandalous – for the time – details.
2 comments:
I completely agree with you here, Kerouac's explicit language in the book is justified because it contributes to the plot. However, the version of "On the Road" that got published was modified. Originally it had even more explicit content. I wonder if a. any of the plot changed to keep the 1950's happy, or b. there originally was unnecessary sexual content that the editors trimmed so the only dirty parts left helped drive plot and/or character development. I wonder even if this letter from Allen Ginsberg in the question had an effect on the final content...Just thinking.
In any case, I think that rule still applies today; that explicit content needs to be justified. I don't think that rule is applied though--I mean, what "Saw" movie are we on now, like 12? Because what we deem appropriate has so greatly changed, we have become desensitized to violence, drugs, and sex. However, "On the Road" is a great example of why explicit content in moderation overall makes a more powerful piece of art.
Both of you make excellent points. Maya, you're so right on about the book not being what it is if all the "inappropriate" content was edited out and glossed over. Also, I think that the mystery the mythological references posed added to the structure itself. I don't think a novel like this is supposed to be understood fully, no matter how much we try to flesh it out and research, as a lot of the things that Kerouac is talking about is manufactured in his own mind.
Sophie, you couldn't be more right about how explicit content needs to be justified. When I read that, I immediately thought of a fourth grader who is beginning to learn swear words. For the first few months, everything will be "And I saw that shitting bird fucking fly over the fucking sunset. It was bastard with fucking wings. Fuck fuck shit fuck bastard damn" followed by an infinite amount of giggling. Kerouac's use of explicit content is like that of an adult that's been swearing long enough to know where to apply the appropriate word at the appropriate time.
Post a Comment