Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 59
“Walking in this country you could understand the perfect gems of haikus the Oriental poets had written, never getting drunk in the mountains or anything but just going along as fresh as children writing down what they saw without literary devices or fanciness of expression.”
This quote is interesting because it deals with many of the same ideas we discuss in class. Ray finds that by separating himself from society and going back to nature, even if only for a day, frees him from many of the pressures of life. For a character who is always looking for a drink to improve a situation, admitting that it is unnecessary to get drunk is huge.
Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 68
“Ray when you are up here you are not in the Berkeley tea room. This is the beginning and the end of the world right here.”
Nature and mountaintops are simple and pure. They offer an idea of vastness, permanency, and an unquestionable freedom. They are the opposite of the towns and cities that Ray comes from. The beginning and end of the world. Everything starts and ends like the mountaintop - simple pure and free – everything in between is only what we make it, and in the end means nothing.
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