The Road Post 1

4. Consider both novels. What do you notice about the treatment of women? The characterization of women? Or the omission of women? What might it suggest?

On the Road shows that Kerouac did not think highly of women. From the beginning, it becomes clear that female characters are used for sex and cleaning. "Dean... decided that the thing to do was have Marylou make breakfast and clean the floor." (2) Another woman, the wife of Ed Dunkel, is only married for gas money, and then ditched somewhere when the money ran out. She then goes back to him. "Ed was making up to Galatea in the bedroom; it didn't take him long." (135)

There are hardly any women featured for more than a two page arc, and most of those who have a role are characterized as whores, mean or dumb. For example, when Sal is hooking up with Terry, she believes he is a pimp, and he tries to convince her that he's not, and then "I got mad and realized I was pleading with a dumb Mexican wench, and told her so..." (77) Then, she gets in bed with him. When Sal visits his friend Remi, he describes Remi's girlfriend this way: "Her ambition was to marry a rich man." (57)

The Road is nowhere near as sexist; it has women in it, but they are almost all dead or about to be. It's like this huge bro bonding session, but with cannibals. Both of the main characters are male, but the man has constant flashbacks of the boy's mother, who is characterized as very scared, and perhaps more realistic than the man. She realizes that they are probably going to die, and some ways of dying are preferable to others. "I should have done it a long time ago, when there were three bullets instead of two." (56) The only other prominent female character is at the very end of the book, and is characterized as maternal, and good to the boy. "Oh, she said, I am so glad to see you." (286)