Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady: The Man Who Set The World Free Neal Cassady grew up as a quasi-homeless wayfaring boy with his alcoholic, unemployed father in the projects of Denver. His unconventional upbringing led to adolescence rife with theft, drug use, and extreme sexual awakening at a young age. Cassady grew up quite quickly and led an overexposed life, which foreshadows his death at the age of 42 of exposure, next to railroad tracks in Mexico. His life, however, seems to be regarded by many as the eighth

authors that researched and influenced American culture and politics at the time. It can be understood to say that the Beat Generation was the precursor for the Flower Children of the 1960’s. These group of authors of the Beat Generation included Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Sal Paradise and others. Majority of the work of the Beat Generation was recognized and published during the 1950s. Jack Kerouac’s first novel “Town and City” was published in 1950 was an autobiography of small

rebellion. As one critic puts it, “[Neal] doesn’t want to overthrow the government, but he doesn’t want a government, or anyone else for that matter, to have control over him” (Napierkowski and Stanley 188). He begins to idolize Neal and his viral, vivid personality. One critic describes the pair’s relationship as one of “lost brother[s],” and goes on to describe Neal as the like-minded, vibrant wanderer that Kerouac desired (Cunnel 8). Kerouac even grows jealous when Neal meets Allen Ginsberg, where he

A form of literature evolved around the 50s that changed the course for all writers to come. This new style of writing arose from the literature movement known as the Beat Generation. It motivated a change. During this time the authors questioned societal norms and were unafraid to address previously forbidden topics such as sex, drugs, and other deviant behaviors or in other words the "dark" aspects of life. These writers not only wrote but experienced much of what they penned. They often lived

social and cultural movements of the 1950s, inspired a lifestyle which rejected conformity and focused on individual freedom. It was America's most celebrated counter-culture and consisted of numerous writers of which Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs are well known today. One of the key figures, Jack Kerouac, is famous for his work in On The Road which is about adventurous road trips, thus exploring America and the limits of one's freedom. People are provoked by the

Beating On Against the Current “Each of us inevitable Each of us limitless – each of us with his or her right upon the earth, Each of us allowed the eternal purports of the earth, Each of us here as divinely as any is here” (Whitman 27). From out of the jazz soaked streets of New York City, arose a group of young poets and writers overwrought with the opportunity of their lives, and endeavored to capture its girth through the honesty and vulnerability of their words. These young bohemians

Initially, Jack Kerouac is the only serious writer in the group; however, he eventually inspires Allen Ginsberg and a few others to pursue writing and poetry. This section also introduces the intelligent, charming, and destructive Neal Cassady. Cassady plays a central role in the lives of both Ginsberg and Kerouac. Sexuality and substance abuse is a central theme in this section. Allen Ginsberg battles with repressing his homosexuality and admits himself into psychiatric wards to “fix” his

The Treatment of Women in On The Road                    The women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road were, it seems, not afforded the same depth in character which the author gave the men. The treatment of the women characters in both word and action by Sal and Dean seems to show that women could only be a virgin/mother figure or a whore. Throughout the novel there are many instances in which women and their feelings or actions are either referred to flippantly or blatantly degraded. It can be

The Degradation of Women in On The Road An argument can be made that the women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road are not as characteristically well developed as the men. Through Sal and Dean's interactions with women, the reader sees that there exist two types of females in this novel - the benevolent virgin/mother figure or the whore. Women are constantly referred to in a negative way or blatantly degraded and insulted by numerous characters. However, Kerouac (through the character of Sal) exhibits

Kerouac was ecstatic at having established ″a new trend in American literature″. It is the American writer Burroughs and Cassady given Kerouac useful models of autobiographical narrative. Kerouac used first-person narration like that of Burroughs’s autobiography and imitates Cassady’s confessional style. He dramatizes the emotional effect of his road experiences in a rapid