Essay Questions

How does the style of the book match the personality of its main character?

The style is tangential; there are very few points treated in a straight way. Stories with friends, gatherings, and other facts that seem to digress from the real trouble and true essence of the book: alcoholism and the empty feeling that leaves in Jack. And that is the beauty of it, what makes it believable. How one who is impotent of tackling a problem would try? Exactly like that, with games, stories, and excuses. So, if one has patience with it, one could appreciate that, like in his life, he is trying again to avoid facing what is due, escaping once again. However, that very same fact make us appreciate even more the moments of sincerity that are throughout the book and that, in my opinion, are hard and breathtaking.

How does Big Sur treat sex?

“What does it matter how old a woman is, nine or nineteen, those little pony tails jiggling as they walk with those little jigglin cans”

Some friends of Jack make love in broad daylight on the beach, and: “The little child refuses to sleep in his crib but has to come trotting out and watch us make love on the bed but Billie says "That's good, he'll learn, what other way will he ever learn?”. So, sex is present, that is for sure, but in a non judgmental manner. Again, a tangential treatment can it be seen, just mention the facts and going on with the story. It could be said that sex is seen in a libertine-like way, in accordance somehow with the Beat movement that Kerouac himself was part of.

What is the relation between the novel and the real life of the author? Could you compare this relation with his bibliography? (Critical question)

The novel is basically a autobiographical one, changing basically the names. One can see the similarities of the main character with the author, being an author too, overwhelmed by his previous successes and feeling like a fraud. One could look at the bibliography of Kerouac and ask himself: could Kerouac write about something other than his life changing slightly the names of those involved? In this particular book he made very valuable reflections on alcoholism, emptiness and depression that illuminate our knowledge and gives us more empathy with those and with our self in difficult situations. But, however, could we imagine a fairy tale by Kerouac? A historical novel? Was he only good writing about himself and his situation in a particular style which he maintained almost all his life? What could be inferred from that if we have to judge him like an artist? Bob Dylan, David Bowie or Dostoyevsky are some examples of very polyvalent artists, and, as much as one might like to see different things from the same great artists, one has to admit that Kerouac was not.