On the Road Admiration Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"Ah now, man," said Dean, "I’ve been digging you for years about the home and marriage and all those fine wonderful things about your soul." It was a sad night; it was also a merry night. In Philadelphia we went into a lunchcart and ate hamburgers with our last food dollar. (II.2.3)

While Sal has been openly idolizing Dean for much of the novel, we are interested to see that, in some ways, Dean has idolized aspects of Sal that he himself is unable to emulate.

Quote #11

"I don’t know," he said. "I just go along. I dig life." He repeated it, following Dean’s line. He had no direction. He sat reminiscing about that night in Chicago and the hot coffee cakes in the lonely room. (II.4.5)

Sal recognizes that Ed idolizes Dean, but fails to make the connection to his own idolatry.

Quote #12

Then Marylou began making love to me; she said Dean was going to stay with Camille and she wanted me to go with her. "Come back to San Francisco with us. We’ll live together. I’ll be a good girl for you." But I knew Dean loved Marylou, and I also knew Marylou was doing this to make Lucille jealous, and I wanted nothing of it. Still and all, I licked my lips for the luscious blonde. When Lucille saw Marylou pushing me into the corners and giving me the word and forcing kisses on me she accepted Dean’s invitation to go out in the car; but they just talked and drank some of the Southern moonshine I left in the compartment. Everything was being mixed up, and all was falling. I knew my affair with Lucille wouldn’t last much longer. She wanted me to be her way. She was married to a longshoreman who treated her badly. I was willing to marry her and take her baby daughter and all if she divorced the husband; but there wasn’t even enough money to get a divorce and the whole thing was hopeless, besides which Lucille would never understand me because I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. (II.4.14)

Sal believes that his own idolatry of "mad" characters is a defining quality for him – so much so that he is unable to marry a woman that doesn’t understand this aspect of him.