From Loss To Reconstruction

The Beat Generation, the most important literary school in America in the mid-20 th century, has influenced a lot on the American youth generation after generation. Jack Kerouac, widely viewed as the king of the Beats, is famous for his novel On the Road which was regarded as the bible of the BG. On the Road is a life memoir novel, in which the BG are the prototype of the characters. Therefore, it makes sense that On the Road is a real reproduction of the American social life in the mid-20 th century. This paper applies Homi Bhabha’s and Said’s theories of Post-colonialism to interpret this novel by analyzing the protagonist’s ideological behavior, aiming to reveal the post-colonial features in this novel and then further deepen the understanding of the BG.This thesis is based on post-colonial theories presented by Homi Bhabha’s theory of the “third” space, his concept of hybridity and mimicry, and Said’s theory of “the other and the self”. According to them, the “colonized”(minority ethnics, disadvantaged groups) and the colonizing subject(mainstream groups, hegemonic culture) can trend towards reconciliation in the “third” space, where the identity of both side become hybrid. From this point of view, this thesis carries out a detailed analysis of On the Road. Firstly, the author Jack Kerouac arranges the protagonist tranversing America several times during which their values and morality change a lot. Hence, the road life provides them with a spiritual home, playing a role of the “third” space. Secondly, due to these changes, their identities begin to dissolve in their pursuing, and finally fuse into the culture of the “muffed” disadvantaged groups. As a consequence, they remould themselves and fulfill identity hybridity. Finally, the protagonists achieve awakening in multi-cultural Mexico. Dean learns how to be responsible and reliable, and Sal reconstructs his self-identification and orientates himself properly. The “lost-and-found” narrative model of this novel presents the theme in a style of openness and diversity. The above aspects compose the main contents of this thesis.Corresponding to the protagonists’ growth process, the main body of this thesis is composed of three parts: First, the protagonist Sal avoids his identical dilemma by way of “self marginalized”, but his evasive attitude leads him to a decadent life, without any help for him to get out of the mess. Then Sal chooses to hit the road to release his anxiety. Influenced by the minority’s effect in the journey, Sal’s identity gradually gets dissolved and rebuilt. It is the inclusion spirit from Negros Mexicans that gets Sal out of the apartheid shadow. Finally, Sal fulfills his identity reconstruction in the multi-cultural Central U.S. and Mexico. The hybridity of diverse cultures accelerates Sal’s process of “lost-and-found”, heralding the arrival of multiculturalism and the end of the racial apartheid.