Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums p.150-171

Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 156

“I realized I had indeed learned from Japhy how to cast off the evils of the world and the city and find my true pure soul.”

Ray shows how he has changed from the beginning of the book. The Dharma Bum way does not cause dramatic changes. It is only in instances like this that a shift in character and ways in evident. Ray has developed a very Zen way of casting off the negative when at the start of the book he did not like Zen and clung to experiences.


Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 170

“Well I ain’t a happy little sage no mo’ and I’m tired.”

This is a rather dramatic change for the last time Ray was with Jahpy. It makes the reader wander what has occurred to cause Japhy to tire of what he values most. It is possible that this dramatic change is caused by the lack of dramatic change in his life. Going back to the previous quotation, the Dharma Bum way does not cause striking transformations. It does cause subtle changes, almost unnoticeable to the individual. Perhaps Jahpy sees a change in Ray but cannot see it in himself.