잭 케루액의 『길 위에서』에 나타난 ‘그것’의 추구와 황홀경

The Pursuit of 'IT' and Ecstasy in Jack Kerouac's On the Road

This study explores the pursuit of 'IT' and ecstasy in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The Beat Movement resisted the standardized and mechanized post-war American culture that led to the alienation of the individual and to an ideology of political supremacy. In this essay, I discuss characteristics of the Beat generation including the Beat philosophy, Eastern spirituality, and Zen Buddhism which rejected the mainstream American culture and values in the 1950s. The Beats rebelled against mechanization, positivism, and spiritual alienation. They looked for alternatives that would allow them to revitalize the individual spirit within an anonymous culture. The Beats' concern for and belief in the possibility of a whole individual stemmed from their immersion in Eastern spirituality and their appropriation of Zen Buddhism as an alternative to the American postwar mentality of normativity and political supremacy. I move on to explore the pursuit of 'IT' and ecstasy in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. On the Road is the representative novel of the Beat Generation. The pursuit of 'IT' is important thematic element in this novel. Sal's shimmering glimpse of 'IT' in the timeless shadows limns a form of Buddhist ecstasy. The Buddhist terms, concepts, and images are introduced in the novel. Dean's goal is to achieve 'IT', a state of being that cannot be defined concretely, but there are frantic methods that seem helpful in reaching that metaphorical dominion where time stops. Dean explains 'IT' to Sal through the jazz music. Sal recognized that the road is life itself and that all life is sorrowful. The pursuit of 'IT' signifies the beginning stage of American Zen Buddhism.