Miss Essay

Social Critisism in The Dharma Bums

In Ray Smith's perspective of The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac, the social world of being a Dharma bum is remarkably normal. Ray's way of engaging into the world is escaping “into wilderness to hear the voice prowling in the wilderness, to find the ecstasy of the stars, to find mysterious secret of origin of faceless wonderless crapulous civilization”(Kerouac, 39). Ray explores different mountains to engage in his Buddhism and poetry, yet to his family, and to everyone else who is not like Ray – basically civilization, simply views Ray as a lazy and homeless man. But they are all unaware of the incredible and exhilarating life Ray leads; and his story driven by his inspiring friend Japhy. Social structures in The Dharma Bums, are seen as flawed and strange; Japhy growing up in Oregon, Ray finding himself isolation to get away from civilization, and Ray fulfilling a spiritual duty greater than himself.

Firstly, Japhy Ryder is living as a Buddhist, yet Ray Smith is still a learning and growing Buddhist.   Japhy criticizes the suburban ideal, sex repression, and newspaper censorship of the human values; basically the way people choose to live in America. While he was growing up in Oregon, he discovered Buddhism, which was the debut to his long journey. Japhy thinks that his karma was to be born in America because he believed that no one from America “has any fun or believes in anything, especially freedom.”(31) Japhy travels on his bike with a knapsack around Berkeley all day which is seen as strange by Alvah.(25) It is unaware to society and also to Alvah that Japhy aspires Ray with his life and ideal of examining the relationship the outdoors, mountaineering, Buddhism and hitchhiking through the West have with his poetry, and wine parties. Ray hopes to fulfill what Japhy has done; to learn how to pack rucksacks and learn what to do to hide in mountains when he is sick of civilization. All this in order to find Ray's inner...