On The Road Book Vs Movie Essay

Similarities and Differences in Characters Vs. Actors In the novel and film On the Road by Jack Kerouac, the choice of actors to play the major roles, especially that of the narrator Sal Paradise, was bad in that it was way off base from Kerouac’s book. Why does the choice of actors significantly differ from how they are portrayed in the novel? Because Jack Kerouac had written the novel so long ago that he did not have the knowledge or wording to explain or show how they are portrayed in the film since it was made this last year. To start off with, the character in the novel Sal Paradise is a writer who wishes to travel the American continent to seek inspiration for his novels. Sal is a reserved, shy character who is attracted to the wild Dean Moriarty. Sal envies madness in others but is unable to
replicate it fully in himself, unless he is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or starvation. Sal always notices people; he is a people person and needs to be around others to feel less lonely. His sadness perhaps stems from his solitude, which sees everywhere he goes in places, people, and in America as a whole. In the film, he is portrayed as a slightly withdrawn young man fascinated by Dean Moriarty, who takes him under his wing as they take off across country. Sal is more outgoing in the movie: he’s not so shy but still follows Dean around. In the novel it talks about everything Sal did, where he went and what he did in those places as in the film it did not show as much. Secondly, another character in the novel Dean Moriarty is the Western hero of the story; he is a pedophile and sexual icon, hero and potential drug addict, criminal and holy guru. Dean is the incredibly flawed hero, who abandons those who love him and feels no remorse at his poor judgments and actions. Dean’s life is a confused mess. He runs from on city to the next, one women to the next, one car to the next, wrecking most of these on the way and feeling the need to move on again once he gets to wherever he wants. Dean’s madness extends into all of his relationships with women. His insatiable sex drive is an example of the Beat Generation’s dissatisfaction. In the film, Dean Moriarty was charming but burned out, avidly chasing after freedom, road miles and women. He was the charismatic adventurer who intimidates Sal Paradise. The actor who played as Dean fit perfectly as he was described in the novel. Dean was good ole’ Dean. Another main character Marylou is a pigeonholed as your archetypal dumb blonde: ditzy, spontaneous, with a full head of bright blonde ringlets.
She is also known as Dean’s first wife. She understands Dean and their relationship well. Marylou sees Dean’s madness, saying that she loves him dearly yet cannot have him because he is too wild for her. Similar to Dean, she is sexually lecherous and sleeps with one man to the next, even lusting after Sal. However, after many break ups and fights with Dean, she ends up marrying an old auto-repairman. In the film, the actor for Marylou did not fit the character she was described as in the book. Marylou is portrayed as a whore; she does more sexual things than in the book. She is also not as carefree or ditsy. Also she ends up going for a Sailor. Another character Camille is Dean’s brunette second wife and the one with whom Dean lives with. Camille throws Dean out in many instances throughout the book, as she does in the film. The actor for Camille worked because it showed how serious she was about being a mother and not going to put up with the late nights, partying, doing drugs and drinking alcohol. She put Dean
straight. Lastly, the character Carlo Marx is a sophisticated gay male. Carlo is not quite so open, but there are some hints that he may be interested in Dean. His poetry is dark; he is always in the doldrums. He is also the voice of reason or, as Sal says, “The Voice of Rock,” asking for explanations and reasons behind Dean’s crazy actions. They, of course, are unable to provide such reasons, and Carlo ends up on the fringe of the story. In the film, Carlo expresses his gay feelings and is completely open with Dean and they have some interactions. It shows a lot more of who Carlo really is in the film than in the movie. The actor fits Carlo in the film to the character in the book because it describes him as gay. To sum of the characters of this essay, the choice or description of actors that are playing the major roles is not portrayed as how the characters are descripted in the novel. The film did not follow up on who the characters were in the novel so it made it difficult to watch the differences in the choice of actors.