The Dharma Bums Literary Analysis

Published in 1958, Jack Kerouac’s, The Dharma Bums is a short novel depicting the adventures and newfound buddhist ideals of Kerouac and his friends. Like many of Kerouac’s other novels, The Dharma Bums contains stories of mad partying, immense drinking, and forms of transcendence and escapism. Although, The Dharma Bums differs from Kerouac’s other novels in the way that it goes about finding transcendence. For example, instead of simply letting go of responsibility, inhibition, and social norms, in The Dharma Bums, Kerouac uses buddhism as a vessel to find a more meaningful way of letting go of these ideas. Not only, but in The Dharma Bums Kerouac uses his ideas of buddhism in almost every aspect of the novel, whether it be through his fast-paced

Like stated prior, both Kerouac and Snyder had disdain for materialistic societies, which is something that buddhism was able of helping them escape. Although according to regulations within the buddhist faith, Kerouac would not be considered as a “true” buddhist due to his alcoholism, sexual misconduct, and drug use. For instance, Kerouac consistently violates the basis of buddhist morality, otherwise known as The Five Precepts (“The Five Precepts”). The Five Precepts are a set of rules which prohibit followers from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and abusing alcohol or drugs (“The Five Precepts”). With all that said, throughout the novel, both Snyder and Kerouac indulge in most of the aforementioned prohibitions, which hinder them both from being true followers of

Kerouac, for instance, is obsessed with the “meaningless void” of life, which is a reason for his reckless and careless attitudes and actions. Not only, but through his romanticized ideas of buddhism, Kerouac is able of perpetuating his recklessness without feeling guilty, allowing for him to reach his own misguided realm of transcendence. This is not to say that Kerouac is intentionally using buddhism to his advantage, but rather is simply overlooking the parts that do not directly apply to his life. His actions, however incorrect, can be explained through the zen buddhist koan, “If you meet the Buddha, kill him” (Daily Buddhism). This phrase comes from Zen Master Linji and is a symbolic and paradoxical statement which basically explains that there is no right or wrong path to enlightenment, therefore, once one believes they have reached the ideal path or level of enlightenment, to kill it, and start over (Daily Buddhism). With all that said, although Kerouac did not exactly follow all the rules of buddhism, he did succeed in following his own path to enlightenment since there is no ideal right or wrong way to do