Thursday, April 19, 2007
First Paragraph
In Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums, the main character, Ray Smith, leaves home to travel across the United States on a spiritual quest. While at home, Ray feels misunderstood and constrained by his family; his desire to find solace in nature is not valued by his family. Ray’s decision to live out of a backpack shows his intension to lead a unencumbered lifestyle. In the end, Ray finds his comfort in a shack that lets him be free from industrial America. Even starting at home, Ray from young age is on a search for totally freedom from societies restraints and criticisms.
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1 comment:
This is an excellent, very focused start to your paper. Great job. To push you a little further, I want you to tackle an even more complex topic. The paper seems to be on very safe ground here. Yes, I agree, Ray wants to be free and unencumbered. But very few people who read the dharma bums would disagree with this statement. So, to go further, ask yourself "why?" -- why does Ray feel this need. Or ask yourself "does he accomplish this freedom in a real sense?" and if he does accomplish this freedom, what allows him to accomplish it?
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