Analysis of the Female Characters in On the Road

Abstract

On the Road is the masterpiece of Kerouac who is one of the most important writers of “Beat Generation” in America in the mid-20th century. It is acclaimed to be the Bible of “Beat Generation”. The novel narrates the stories of how Dean and his friends——some representative characters of the Beats travelled across continental U.S. several times and searched for new lifestyles and new faith on the road. In this novel, male characters are the main characters and the descriptions of all the female characters account for just one sixth of the whole book. Although the portrayal of the female characters is not profound like that of the male characters, the different personalities Kerouac endued the female characters are also the highlights of the novel. As a novel with strong nature of autobiography, Kerouac put his attitude and emotion into his portrayal. So it also can be a reflection of Kerouac’s female concepts. This paper aims at analyzing the female characters in On the Road by studying the types of the female characters in the novel and summarizing Kerouac’s female concepts reflected from the novel.