Pursuit Of The Authentic Self — A Psychoanalytic Interpretation Of On The Road

Jack Kerouac was the representative writer and the leading figure of the “Beat Generation”. After the year 1957 the publication of his representative On the Road, he ranked among one of the most controversial famous writers in 20 th century. Afterwards, a large scale of package movement was aroused in America. The youths with dreams packed and wandered in order to pursue the distinctive life in American continent. Up to this day, the comments on the “Beat Generation” represented by Kerouac are still making progress. These different comments are linked with ideological criticism and political criticism, but as a literary phenomenon, there is still no complete exploration.On the Road is a piece of works writing at one stretch with just only three weeks by the writer Jack Kerouac. The structure is loose and intermittent. Its main plotline is wandering and it is developed centering on the theme “pursuit”. The novel is divided into five parts, depicting four-time travels across the American continent. The main body of the thesis is composed of three chapters, which explore the psychological changes of the main characters from the perspective of psychoanalysis. Among that, Chapter One starts from the two main characters: Sal and Dean, discussing their bewilderment in behaviors and inner world. In Chapter Two, they try to escape from the loss by the methods of displacement and release. Chapter Three mainly illustrates return of the authentic self by two ways: love and self-consciousness. It is love from family and friends that wake them up and make them find their existence. At the same time, self-consciousness leads them to feel and create their lives actively, pursuing the authentic self. From the above analyses, readers can easily know that the thesis hopes to help the lost youths to find out their own authentic road to realize their life values and dreams.