Jack Kerouac’s On the Road demonstrates the limitless mobility for white American men during the Long Fifties. Kerouac establishes this idea through his characters and adds those of another race and ethnicity to illustrate their freedom or otherwise (lack of freedom) as a Mexican migrant workers. It is unconventional that Sal finds comfort in his encounters with Mexican migrant workers that he meets throughout his western travels. Although it appears to be a carefree and untroubled life, these Mexican migrant workers face hardships that prevent them from finding well-paying jobs. Instead, they are placed in hard, laborious jobs that are dangerous and demeaning. Sal’s relationship with Terry in Bakersfield, California, evidently reveals
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Picking grapes is a backbreaking job that requires families to work in scorching hot temperatures, and Terry and her son have to do this in order to survive. In addition, these hardworking families still do not make much money by picking grapes; Sal says he “earned approximately a dollar and a half” every day and that “it was just enough to buy groceries in the evening on the bicycle” (97). They worked long and hard in the heat to earn about a dollar and a half at the end of each day, which was just enough money to supply them with some groceries in order to nourish themselves. They also had to ride a bike to transport the groceries; Sal nor Terry’s family could afford to own a nice car or truck that could carry them in a faster and more convenient time and manner. The differences in class are not different, but their racial identities are what separate them, creating an atmosphere that racializes …show more content…
Sal fails to understand the essential nature of work to marginal peoples, even though Sal, himself, is of a poor class. Sal meets a gang of Okies and finds a job picking cotton and identifies himself as part of the Mexican culture. When Sal witnesses Okies beating another Mexican migrant worker, he declares, “From then on I carried a big stick with me in the tent in case they got the idea we Mexicans were fouling up their trailer camp” (98). However, Okies are poor white people who were forced to move from their home during the Great Depression, and instead of Sal identifying himself as one of them, he identifies himself as a Mexican migrant worker. Although the color and race of the beaten man is not identified in the text, Sal finds reason for the Mexican migrant workers to be cautious and afraid. This implication is demeaning and stereotypical, because it hints at the racial conflict between white Okies and marginal migrant workers. Sal being a white American man, is naturally free to roam the land, and not forced to work in such harsh conditions, yet after this occurrence he sides with the Mexican migrant workers, highlighting his self-identity complexity that he works through throughout the narrative. The Okies also say they got up earlier for a chance to make more money: “They said the cotton was heavier at dawn because of the dew and you could
Picking grapes is a backbreaking job that requires families to work in scorching hot temperatures, and Terry and her son have to do this in order to survive. In addition, these hardworking families still do not make much money by picking grapes; Sal says he “earned approximately a dollar and a half” every day and that “it was just enough to buy groceries in the evening on the bicycle” (97). They worked long and hard in the heat to earn about a dollar and a half at the end of each day, which was just enough money to supply them with some groceries in order to nourish themselves. They also had to ride a bike to transport the groceries; Sal nor Terry’s family could afford to own a nice car or truck that could carry them in a faster and more convenient time and manner. The differences in class are not different, but their racial identities are what separate them, creating an atmosphere that racializes …show more content…
Sal fails to understand the essential nature of work to marginal peoples, even though Sal, himself, is of a poor class. Sal meets a gang of Okies and finds a job picking cotton and identifies himself as part of the Mexican culture. When Sal witnesses Okies beating another Mexican migrant worker, he declares, “From then on I carried a big stick with me in the tent in case they got the idea we Mexicans were fouling up their trailer camp” (98). However, Okies are poor white people who were forced to move from their home during the Great Depression, and instead of Sal identifying himself as one of them, he identifies himself as a Mexican migrant worker. Although the color and race of the beaten man is not identified in the text, Sal finds reason for the Mexican migrant workers to be cautious and afraid. This implication is demeaning and stereotypical, because it hints at the racial conflict between white Okies and marginal migrant workers. Sal being a white American man, is naturally free to roam the land, and not forced to work in such harsh conditions, yet after this occurrence he sides with the Mexican migrant workers, highlighting his self-identity complexity that he works through throughout the narrative. The Okies also say they got up earlier for a chance to make more money: “They said the cotton was heavier at dawn because of the dew and you could