Identity Quest On the Road
The Representation of Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Heidi Irk S1357417
Dr. I. Visser
Masterscriptie Engelse Taal en Cultuur, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen 15122 words
Contents
Preface
Introduction 1
1. A Changing American Landscape 8
2. Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road 17
3. Identity in Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 32
Conclusion 48
Preface
In September 2007 I left The Netherlands quite abruptly with a one-way ticket to Australia and a backpack on my back, curious to see the world and ready for adventures. Travelling on my own and unsure who I would meet along the way, I made sure there was space in my backpack for a battered old copy of a novel I had been meaning to read for a while – Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, a book that I envisioned to be the perfect travel companion. Over two years later in January 2010, I finally returned back home, a journal filled with adventures and the intention to write my dissertation.
I quickly realised that two of the works I had enjoyed so much while travelling, novels that were passed on between backpackers along the route I followed, merited closer, academic analysis. So with the assistance of Dr Irene Visser, I shaped a research question that focused on the representation of identity in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Robert Pirsig’s Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
As I started researching the reception and critical analysis of these works, I was quite overwhelmed with the amount of critics voicing their criticism towards these protagonists. Often they were portrayed as escaping responsibility and mainstream culture in search of kicks and simple pleasure, never achieving true development in their identity and ultimately all returning defeated to their mainstream lives. Initially, I found myself agreeing with such voices and underscored this in my preliminary thesis statement. However, as I continued my research and redefined my concept of identity as described in Stephen Clingman’s Grammar
of Identity – identity as a multidimensional and fluid concept – the scope of my dissertation
broadened and my thesis began to take shape.
With the promise that I would not go walkabout again until my dissertation was complete, Dr Irene Visser kindly agreed to be my supervisor. I would sincerely like to thank her for the suggestions, insight and encouragement that I have received these past six months. With her help I have been able to complete my dissertation, while travelling through these works.
