10/19/2011

          Coming back to the issue of the unreliable narrator, I wanted to address author’s relationship to the main character. In this context, Sal Paradise can again be characterized as both unreliable and trustworthy. For instance, since the novel is largely autobiographical, Sal represents the author himself in a report of his own experiences. There are very strong parallels between the author’s personality and Sal Paradise, as they are, in general, the same person. Therefore, the character Sal can viewed as a mask for the author, who, due to the autobiographical context, appears to be narrating the story himself. However, the figure Sal does not have the burdens and history the author has. With Sal Paradise, Kerouac can create a more reliable, less subjective narrator than himself. As Paradise does not have earlier relationships with any other characters or places, he is able to give plainer and objective descriptions. It seems that the author creates a reliable narrator, paralleled to his own life and experiences. Nonetheless, Sal’s lack of sophistication, originally making him more reliable, causes him to be less authentic. Consequently, the main character does not know human behavior and reactions as well as the author, which makes him less aware of immorality and risky situations.
          Completing my soliloquy on this subject, I was also interested in Sal and Dean’s relationship during my last reading. I have almost finished reading part three, in which the main characters’ relationship steeply develops. After Dean is abandoned by his wife, Camille, he and Sal plan to travel to New York. After they traverse the country once again, they even dream to fly to Italy. However, before the two leave San Francisco, they spend several nights in the city’s jazz bars. At this point already, Dean develops criminal, almost mad patterns of behavior. Why is Sal so loyal to and supportive of Dean? Why does Sal remain under his friend’s wicked influence throughout their voyage to Chicago and New York? I did not expect for Sal, a usually humble, caring and honest figure to misjudge his criminal friend. The main character seems naive in his interactions with Dean, as he cannot predict the risk and danger these situations involve. For instance, in Frisco and later on, Dean steals several cars, for which he has to leave town. Dean constantly disobeys traffic rules, which not only endangers Sal legally, but might have a fatal outcome. Although Sal seems aware of Dean’s recklessness, especially after they get stuck in a ditch, he still has future plans with his friend. In novel’s beginning, Sal mentions that he like Dean because he is different from anybody else. This is, however, not a good justification for risking so much.