Treatment of Women in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road Essay -- On The Road

The Treatment of Women in On The Road The women in Jack Kerouacs On The Road were, it seems, non 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 scarcely 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 said, however, that Sal (Kerouac) did not necessarily agree with this contract fe manlike identity, and there is prove to support this claim. The novel also shows though that Sal did participate in this male forced female person stereotyping whether he wanted to or not. This is not to declare that Sal (Kerouac) is necessarily malicious in his treatment of women but more possibly he is merely acting in accordance with the way he was raised and the way in which society treated women at the time. In effect while Sal and the novel may try to make points against the pitiful treatment of women, on the whole the novel tends to reinforce the sexist male domination at the time. The novel, on a certain level endorses the narrow female identity and the virgin/whore dichotomy contained therein, while at the same time attempting unsuccessfully to rise above the limited female identity. Women play a key role in this novel in many ways. In the case of... ...el, it is there as a reproach of his belief system and the attitudes of the time. Works Cited Page Bartlett, Lee. The Beats Essays in Criticism. Jefferson, N.C. McFarland. 1981. Cassady, Carolyn. flashing My Life With Jack and Neal. Berkeley Creative Arts Books Company. 1976. Cassady, Neal. Letter to Jack Kerouac. sue 7, 1947. Challis, Chris. Quest For Kerouac. London Faber and Faber Limited. 1984. Dardess, George. The Delicate Dynamics of Friendship A reconsideration of Kerouacs On The Road. American Literature. v46 200-206. 1974. Kero uac, Jack. On The Road. hot York Penguin Books Limited. 1955. Watson, Steven. The Birth of The Beat Generation. New York