Dean Moriarity: The Dean's Dilemma

Amanda Nguyen
Professor Davis
English 223
12 November 2015
The Dean Dilemma
The protagonist and antagonist, Dean Moriarity is the manifestation of the Beat counterculture generation, experimenting with drugs and immersing himself in music, he portrays the perfect example of divergence from the mainstream. Dean’s portrayal of the complete anti-conformist ideal questions the undisputed belief of conventionalism and depicts defiance to collective ideals to the most extreme in a positive light.
Dean “responsible perhaps, for everything that is wrong” is the incredibly flawed hero of the story who is destructive to excess not only is his life, but everyone’s life he enters (Kerouac 2). A sex addict, alcoholic, junkie, adulterer, and criminal,
For Sal, Dean’s destructive behavior serves as proof that Dean lives and thinks on a different, higher level than everyone else. Dean lives to feel alive; he lives for sensation and simulation of any kind, whether it is though drugs or women or music. He didn’t weight himself down with the past or burden himself thinking of the future; he lives only in the moment and, therefore, he wanted to take full advantage of every second. He runs from city to city, woman to woman, car to car, and back again in a never-ending, whirlwind adventure to find his place, to find “IT” (Kerouac 3). This isn’t far from what many want - to find their purpose in life, however, few will go to the lengths Dean will to find it. But there is admiration in that, in wanting something so desperately that you would go wherever and do whatever to achieve it. Dean takes this mentally to the extreme, unbound by social norms or the consideration of others; nothing was beyond his view of what is
Dean abandons and is resistant to all aspects and traditions of societal expectations to family, friends, stability, work, and home. This is significant when it is in our inherent response to fit in and obey the rules put in place by our society and he instead feels no obligation or guilt to abide by these principles. That in itself take a strong sense of identity and confidence in oneself to go against the path all others follow. While some choose to live in a home, Dean chooses to live on the road; while some choose to get married and have a family, Dean doesn’t allow his wives and children to change his prioritizes and tie him down to a sedentary life. Dean “ never yawns or says common place thing” but is “mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved” which require much more bravery than the mass's complicacy (Kerouac