Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums p.171-199

Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 176

“Bud Diefendorf who worked as the janitor in the Buddhist Association to earn his rent and attend classes free… I liked Budd, hew was intelligent, and I liked the fact that he had stared out as a physicist at the University of Chicago then gone from that to philosophy and finally not the philosophy’s dreadful murderer, Buddha.”

It is interesting that Bud chose the path he did. He represents a very pure example of the Dharma Bum idle. He was a scientist but decided to work as a janitor. He studied philosophy which attempts to define the meaning of life and now follows a philosophy that states there is no meaning.

Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 192

“Oh my God, sociability is just a big smile and a big smiles is nothing but teeth, I wish I could joust stay here and rest and be kind.”

Ray is saying that human interaction is false. He goes to a party and socializes- it is nothing. Even if he has fun- it is nothing. Even so, he is expected to be a Japhy’s party, but he feels that it is a gratuitous