An Ideological Analysis of Counter-Elite Essentiality in On the Road

Abstract

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) is regarded as the pioneer and spokesman of the Beat Generation, which emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His masterpiece On the Road is honored as the bible of the Beat Generation. Since its publication, critical responses to the novel have polarized, from high praise to fierce denunciation, for the protagonists lead a wandering, unconstrained life, disobeying authority, and denying the values and moral standards of the elites so as to establish the counter-elite essentiality. The present paper aims to make an analysis of the counter-elite feature of the characters in the novel from three perspectives: (a) the introduction to Beat Generation and counter-elite essentiality; (b) their strong resistance against industrialized society; and (c) their fight against the ideology of elites.