Abstract

In On the Road, Jack Kerouac expressed the profound concern of Sal’s complex and pain. This paper intends to analyze Sal Paradise, the incomplete rebel in On the Road, who is eager to join the Beat Generation without complete abandonment of American middle class values, which are characteristic of the typical American dream. As a result, he finally submits to those traditional values. The paper is to explore this character’s tragedy, with the purpose of making better understanding the sadness of this novel.

Key words: Sal, incomplete rebellion, the Beat Generation, values of American middle class

摘要

杰克·凯鲁亚克在《在路上》中深入描写了主人公萨尔·帕拉迪斯的矛盾心态和痛苦。本文试图分析不彻底的反叛者萨尔·帕拉迪斯。他渴望融入“垮掉的一代”却不能完全抛弃美国中产阶级的思想，最终屈服于传统思想。本文较为系统地剖析了人物的悲剧性，以加深读者对小说悲伤主题的理解。

关键词：萨尔；不彻底的反叛；垮掉的一代；美国中产阶级思想

1.    Introduction
Jean “Jack” Louis Kerouac, the representative of the Bear Generation, was born to a French Canadian immigrant in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1922. He defined the Beat Generation as a group of people living in the underground, feeling that the “public” life is false and useless. He added that they were honest to life and themselves with the result that they really knew where they were, the same time, they were tired of all formalism and social norms. In general, the Beat Generation was a social group which rose in stagnant postwar America and was active between the 1950s and the beginning of 1960s. At that time, the American society was conservative country which emphasized conformity and obedience to the general social conventions, laws and regulations, and moral principles. At the same time, the American economy grew so rapidly that the living standard improved and the group of middle class expanded. As a result, the middle class became the largest social group in the American society. In general, most Americans regard themselves as the middle class. These well educated Americans rely on knowledge and technology for a living and have a stable and generous salary. Their American dream would be home and car ownership, college education, health security, economic security, family vacations, and promotion in socio-economic status. In the terms of policy, the US government implemented “cold war” policy and McCarthyism. Besides, culture and people’s thoughts were traditional and backward-looking at that time. Materialism and consumerism were very popular. This social background, to some degree, results in the emergence of the Beat Generation.