Dear Mr. Paradise,
I am writing as both an avid traveler and an admirer of your numerous grand road trips across the US. I see travel as a tool which can combat forces of prejudice and bigotry, something that most people could surely use. Personally, I travel in order to fulfill my sense of wonder about all things foreign. I don't just want to visit another land and see its sights, but rather I want to experience local culture, venture down backroads, and interact with people who I would never get the chance to meet while home in America.
I'm reaching out to ask you to divulge more details to me about your incredible travels with Dean and the rest of your gang. Principally, I want to know why you travel; what do you feel it fulfills in your life? I understand that you simply love the open road, but what about it? What lessons can be learned from the road and through traveling to places you've never gone?
I like to think that travel makes people more accepting and open to new and potentially foreign ideals. Throughout most of On The Road I believed as if you felt the same and were opening your arms out wide to the world. However, in my opinion, that only seemed to be the case in the US. Once out of the tourism jaded part of Mexico, you and especially Dean seemed to be out of your element and somewhat uncomfortable. While in the US you seemed to express a joy and wonder in experiencing new regions and meeting different peoples, but once in the hot, dense jungle your mind seemed to change. You and Dean became rather uncomfortable and felt no connection to the native people. Consequently, I ask you why you had such a negative shift of attitude and perception of the world once you left the United States and Americanized part of Mexico? I would imagine a person as in love with the road as yourself would be even more excited to be out of your element and in a foreign place like the Mexican jungle villages. Regardless of any difference in opinions, I enjoy your passion for exploration.
I'll wrap this up with one last thought: Do you believe travel is necessary for one to truly obtain an open mind and understand the world and its peoples? And if so, how is it fair that the "road" is less open to certain ethnic or cultural groups?
Best,
TJ
I really like how you wrote the letter as yourself, instead of a character in the book. The way that you explained your views on the road and travel and then followed up your thoughts with questions for Sal was interesting. I, too, think that travel can help us understand cultures different from our own, forcing us to accept ideas that we may have only hear about. I was a little disappointed in Sal and Dean’s actions in Mexico. Though they had been able to relate to many Americans and some of the Mexicans closer to the border, like Victor, the deeper they got, the more they struggled. I was hoping that they would act differently and be as comfortable as they were in the States. Your final two questions are extremely thought provoking. I feel that Sal would explain that he enjoyed his time on the road, believing that it expanded his mind, but would also acknowledge that it can be harmful to one’s relationships to spend too much time on the road.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way you asked a lot of questions of Sal, they were things which I think I had been wondering myself but not actually put into words. So far as the change in tone when they reached Mexico I think it had a lot to do with the fact that they were in truly foreign land. They didn't really have any connection to the people in the same sense that whoever they met in America they could look at them and think "I know them because we are American." They might look oddly at them for living a more traditional sort of life, but they knew at their core they were of the same people. When they were in Mexico things were just different between them and the culture they were in, and it changed the way they acted.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Sal felt slightly jaded because he expected challenges from life on the road itself, like the night he hitchhiked in the pouring rain before changing his route to Chicago, but he didn’t expect challenges from the people he encountered. I think these expectations that Mexico City would be a site of adventure like past cities was met with the harsh reality that he did not truly understand how to engage with this new space and culture. Instead of opening up with the onset of struggle, Sal stayed closed-off and likely grew with animosity instead of gaining cultural perspective.
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