The duo’s quest is not made in a traditional fashion, in part because it is not one single expedition but rather five -each part in the novel describing a new journey. Moreover, there is rarely a true destination in mind; they seem to have no idea where they are going, only that they “gotta go and never stop going till [they] get there” (Kerouac 227). The direction of their travels is decided by where their friends are, how much gas money they have, and how far a kind stranger can take them. Sal, Dean, and an ever-changing group of friends trek across the entire continental US, bouncing between New York, San Francisco, Denver and everywhere in between. They even make their way south and explore Mexico. Despite the apparent madness in their voyage, …show more content…
In every place they go they are looking for something, the object of their quest and thus their reason for continuing on the road. Dean is often unable to put this aim into words, enthusiastically referring to it only as “IT” (Kerouac 118). This “IT” is Paradise. They are searching for the spots in which heaven and earth meet and a glimpse of Paradise and God can be seen. The author even alludes to this in the surname of the novel’s narrator: Sal Paradise.
There are several points along the way in which the pair believes that they are within reach of this heavenly glory, several of which are in connection to music. These times are the result of hearing the blind pianist, Greg Shearling, play. His beatific melodies invoked an almost tangible closeness to God, so much so that Dean begins to identify the musician as God (Kerouac 119 & 229). However, these moments are fleeting and soon “God [is] gone” (Kerouac 119), and the connection to Paradise was lost.