Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 150-171

"Suddenly I was exhilarated to realize I was completely alone and safe and nobody was going to wake me up all night long." (Kerouac, 154)

-This quote is when Smith is by himself in the countryside traveling. It's a very different world he lives in where to be alone is to be safe. Today to be alone in the wilderness brings thoughts of Blair Witch and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Back then, however, to be alone was to be secure, ensured of an undisturbed existence which is in the end what Ray is searching for. However, Ray is searching for that in a working society, searching for the inner peace where he can be completely safe and secure and not technically alone.

"Inside I saw the beautiful simplicity of Japhy's way of living, neat, sensible, strangely rich without a cent having been spent on the decoration." (Kerouac, 164)

-Smith envies Japhy's life when he sees the way he lives. It's easier for Smith to think of Japhy's life as a type of chaos, with no happiness, no richness to it, just sex, ecclectic theory, etc. Now seeing Japhy's hut he realizes that while Japhy lives a strangely unorganized existence the shear simplicity of his life organizes it all for him. His happiness comes from having his studies, his neat living, and his unorganized mind.

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