Jack Kerouac On The Road Banned

On the Road by Jack Kerouac, author during the Beats’ generation, is largely considered a novel that defined a generation. Despite this consideration, however, there are very many controversies linked to this book. Though many call the novel offensive, unexciting, and poorly written, Kerouac deserves the entirety of the acclamations he has received over the years as the result of his roman á clef. Along with literary classics such as The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Grapes of Wrath; On the Road has historically been challenged and even banned in classroom settings. If a novel is challenged, that means it has a message that breaks the status quo and pushes the boundaries of literature. On the Road objects stigmas about casual sex, the drug culture, poverty, capitalism and what it meant to be living in 1960’s America.

On the Road is a story about countless elements of life that are relative to almost everyone today. Understanding of time, spirituality, wisdom, reality, poverty, friendship, dissatisfaction, and admiration are all key components to the

According to the American Library Association, the most common reason for banning books, in order, include offensive language, sexual explicitness, and unsuitability to intended age group, violence, Satanic content, homosexuality, religious viewpoints, political viewpoints, drugs, racism, nudity, and sex education. Depending on how it is interpreted, On the Road hits at least nine or ten of the twelve points. In more conservative communities, it is to be expected that this novel is to be contested, along with the other aforementioned contested classics. Despite these controversial components to the story, which high school children have most likely been exposed to, there is more to Kerouac’s tale than sex, drugs and