Can you help me with the book, On the Road by Jack Kerouac?

Question

I need help with the physical characteristics of Sal, including age, physical characteristics, personality and role in the story. two quotes supporting this would help!

Also how the author depicts the personality of the character? especially the relationship with another pivotal character. Two quotes with this too?

Explain how the author represents the voice of this character through the use of dialogue. Explain how the character speaks and what exactly this reveals about him. Two quotes?'

What are two examples of sensory description used to develop the character into a well-rounded and complex character?

What are two examples of figurative language used to develop the character?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

On the Road - Jack Kerouac

Sal Paradise Character Analysis

Sal’s Relationship with Dean

Sal clearly makes Dean out to be a hero. A hero of the West, to be more specific. And both his hero and the West turn out to be, well, not that great at the end of the day. More about the West later. As for Dean, Sal is amazingly not judgmental of the not-so-nice things Dean does. When Dean abandons him to starve in San Francisco, Sal agrees passively with Marylou that it was a rat thing to do, but doesn’t speculate too much on his own as to the rat-ness of his friend. It's the same deal when Dean abandons him in Mexico. It seems that because Sal idolizes Dean, he forgives Dean’s faults or overlooks them.

Sal and Madness

Then there’s the whole madness thing. Sal envies the madness in others, but is unable to replicate it in himself – unless he is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or near death due to starvation. Sal sees this enviable madness primarily in Dean. We also think Rickey, Terry’s brother (the mañana guy), is worth looking at. Sal loves him. He loves that Rickey lives in a perpetual state of tomorrow, that he feels no guilt at never working, and that he gets drunk all day. But Sal is only able to sustain Rickey's brand of madness in himself for two days before looking to the future and realizing that he simply can’t live like that.

Full Character Analysis

http://www.shmoop.com/on-the-road/sal-pa…


Salvatore Paradise: The first person narrator of the story. The events of his three years on the road, except for a few short asides, make up the plot of the novel. He begins the story after his first divorce and ends it in a relationship with a woman known only as Laura. He lives with his unnamed aunt. His fixation with the personality of Dean Moriarty and his group of friends is integral to the evolution of the story. Sal's rocky relationship with and interest in Dean is the primary plot device of the tale. He begins the novel as an unsuccessful aspiring writer who meets Dean, a 'ball of flame' and follows him around the country. By the end of the story, he is tired of Dean's antics and is ready to settle down. Because this novel is semi-autobiographical, it is usually agreed that Salvatore represents the author himself.

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/otr/CHR.ht…

On the Road Quotes

Find the perfect quote to float your boat. Shmoop breaks down key quotations from On the Road.

http://www.shmoop.com/on-the-road/quotes…

Source(s):

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/otr/

http://www.shmoop.com/intro/literature/j…

Answer 2

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ontheroad/

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