As a society of people, we constantly search for inspiration and rhythm. As of right now, finding that stability that we yearn for isn’t as easy as it should be with the world in such disarray. After reading “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, I believe that finding such steadiness is as easy as studying the generations of the past. Kerouac was the core of a cultural and literary movement called the Beat Generation. The foundation of this movement is Kerouac’s masterpiece “On the Road,” published in 1957, which is based on many of Kerouac’s life experiences. Amiri Bakara, a feminist poet and follower of Kerouac, called the Beat Generation “a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked.” During this time period, America was just getting off its feet from a world war. President Dwight Eisenhower was seeing the beginning of the Cold War. The Cuban revolution persisted as more and more blood was shed every day. Kerouac, sitting with fellow poet John Clellon Holmes, said that this generation was “beat,” meaning that they were just tired from the happenings of the world. Our generation is no different. We are simply worn out from American and Iraqi soldiers dying overseas. We are tired of the crisis in Darfur. We are tired of rising gas prices and national debt. We are a beat generation, searching for hope. “On the Road” exemplifies the notion of searching for something new. Kerouac’s main character, Sal Paradise, sets off on a cross-country excursion. His main goal is to get out west, to San Francisco, where his fellow poets and friends reside for the summer. Starting off in New York City, Sal finds himself hitching his away across America. Much of this novel deals with Sal’s relationship with a character named Dean Moriarty, who characterizes the poet and Kerouac’s close friend, Neal Cassidy. Dean represents the “western life” that Sal wants to lead–a rebellious life filled with freedom, nature, alcohol and open-mindedness. This book chronicles his time spent in New York, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and a number of locations trying to live that lifestyle.Sal strives to find humanity. Through hitchhiking, writing poetry, finding short-term jobs and staying on the road, Sal wants to discover what humanity is all about. “On the Road” uses radiant imagery and language, supplemented by the worldly grittiness of American society, to open readers’ minds to what one can do within a lifetime.