(Department of English, 2015-03) Chapagain, Bishnu Kumari
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is the representation of the culture and lifestyle of
thesome youth that emerged in America after the Second World War, known as Beat
generation. Those youths rejected the social and cultural values of mainstream
American society of that time in various ways and indulged their life in drugs, sex,
alcohol, beat of jazz music and many more. But, while disrupting the diverse values of
mainstream society, they failed to disrupt or redefine the mainstream society’s
definition of gender roles and its view towards women. In case of view towards women
and gender roles, they gave continuation to the patriarchal values of mainstream
society and continued to exercise the masculinity in their culture.