The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 223-end

"The government had tried to fight it, sent a thousand men in with pack string supply lines that then took three weeks from Marblemount fire camp, but only the fall rains had stopped that blaze and the charred snags, I was told, were still standing on Desolation Peak and in some valleys." (Kerouac, 227)

-This quote, although it could very possibly be an accident, is an interesting metaphor to the book. The way that the fire surges on destroying everything, and no one can stop it except nature could be related to the way that suburban culture expands and grows. The way the main stream rips through society kindof like a fire. I'm sure, of course, that this is mear coincidence but the quote still provokes an interesting thought. Because this quote is directly before when Smith is starting to work for old Happy in the mountains is this him giving up on trying to change things, giving in to the power of the fire?

"'And this is Japhy's lake, and these are Japhy's mountains,' I thought, and wished Japhy were there to see me doing everything he wanted me to do." (Kerouac, 229)

-The above quote is interesting because it shows how even though at some points in the book Smith disagrees with Japhy he ends up thinking of his quest around the mountains as a tribute to Japhy. The fact that Smith sometimes seemed to look down on Japhy shows that maybe in Japhy's absence Smith has has realized that he enjoys many of the things Japhy does, and even if he doesn't he respects them. Smith manages to make himself feel close to Japhy by just doing what Japhy wanted him to, it's as if Smith were looking for a way to get Japhy back, to reconnect to what seems to be the best friend he ever had.