Carnival And Dialogue

On the Road, a representative work of Jack Kerouac and of the Beat Generation, brought the author fame and helped define a generation. It was written in a period of social transition in the United States. It is not a book merely about the aimless wandering of two marginalized people but also spiritual quest and growth of the nonconformists. It responds to social reality and touches the deepest core of human nature. This thesis applies Bakhtin's polyphonic principles to the reading of the novel. By examining the carnivalistic features and dialogical nature of the novel, the thesis argues that the character's rebellious life embodies their spiritual quest.The first chapter focuses on the carnivalistic features of the novel. According to Bakhtin, under the carnival effect everything is free from hierarchies. "Opposites are mingled. Everything authoritative rigid or serious is subverted, loosened and mocked." On the Road represents a time in America when the spirit of freedom, individualism and democracy was betrayed by the political oppression and conformism. Kerouac deliberately created a carnival world in the novel to subvert the mainstream values. Carnivalization makes Bakhtinian dialog possible. By analyzing the carnivalistic character, scene and writing method of the novel, this chapter explores the subversion of the mainstream cultures by the protagonists as well as the pains and gains in their pursuit.The second chapter analyses the dialogs in the carnival atmosphere. Dialog, as to Bakhtin, reveals the "depth of human soul" and the "man in man". The author of this thesis sees Sal in an dialogical relationship with the world and people through which he gradually developes himself. This chapter discusses how Sal gradually grows by analyzing the dialogs between Sal and the world, Sal and Dean, and Sal and himself.The third chapter, based on the previous two, applies Bakhtin's philosophy of unfinalizabilty to prove that the road of quest and growth is never finalized. In the novel, through the two-folded symbolism of the "road" image, Sal's agony and frustration is revealed on the one hand; Yet, on the other hand, no matter how difficult the process is, the road is still leading to the future. And the meaning is continuously unfolded. On the Road is at the core a book about how to grow up to be a real man.The thesis concluds that Kerouac's On the Road is a polyphonic novel and that the road of spiritual pursuit and growth will never end.