On the Road

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1955

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-10

Part 1, Chapters 11-14

Part 2, Chapters 1-5

Part 2, Chapters 6-11

Part 3, Chapters 1-5

Part 3, Chapters 6-11

Part 4, Chapters 1-6

Part 5, Chapter 1

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Part 3, Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary

Back in New York, alone and depressed, Sal travels to Denver in the spring to work in a fruit market. However, the hard work doesn’t appeal to him, and he quickly becomes lonely because all his friends have left the city. As he walks through the streets, he envies the simple and happy lives of the people who have immigrated to Denver from Mexico, Japan, and elsewhere. He tries to picture Dean and his other friends as children in Denver. One evening, he attends a community softball game in which kids from different ethnic backgrounds play together. Sal envies their happiness. Shortly thereafter, he spends an evening with a well-off woman he knows, who gives him enough money to get to San Francisco.

Part 3, Chapter 2 Summary

Dean is living with Camille in a house in San Francisco when Sal shows up at their door in the early morning hours. Dean answers the door naked. He welcomes Sal into the house and talks about his life: He now works as a mechanic but still often thinks about Marylou. He worries that she has seen many men since he left her and complains that she married a used car salesman. Dean was so concerned about Marylou that in a drug-induced stupor, he contemplated killing her or himself (but did not). Now he has injured his hand (among many other ailments), so he stays home to look after his baby daughter, whom he loves. Sal hears Camille crying in another room.

The next morning, Camille and Dean have a huge argument. Sal becomes an awkward bystander. Camille throws Sal and Dean out of the house, screaming insults at Dean while she cries. As the men stand in the street, Sal suggests that they travel east to New York and then find a way to get to Italy. For the first time, Dean realizes that Sal cares a great deal about him. In his view, they’re now bound together. This newfound closeness makes both men happy and slightly uncomfortable. As they stand in the street, they can see a wedding in the distance. They imagine themselves in Europe and begin their journey east.

Part 3, Chapter 3 Summary

Sal and Dean devise a plan for what feels like their most momentous adventure yet: to find Dean’s father. They want to remain together as they search for him, even though they have no idea where he is. Before they begin their search, however, they decide to have a few days of fun in San Francisco. They call up their friends. Roy Johnson drives them around town; Remi has moved out of Mill City, though he’s not a fan of Dean anyway; and Galatea Dunkel explains that Ed ditched her again and criticizes Dean for doing the same to Camille, though Dean laughs off her accusations. Sal stands up for his friend, and they go to various jazz clubs and lose themselves in the music. The two friends feel closer than ever.

Part 3, Chapter 4 Summary

After an intense night of listening to jazz, the group is at an afterparty in a house belonging to a new friend named Walter. The men accidently wake up Walter’s wife, but she just smiles at them. Dean points to her as an example of how women should act. The next morning, Sal visits Galatea and collects the luggage that he and Dean left with her. She treats Sal with respect, but she’s convinced that Dean will meet a bad end. As Sal and Dean take a taxi out of San Francisco, Sal regrets that he’s leaving the city so soon.

Part 3, Chapter 5 Summary

Sal and Dean share a car ride with other people. Their intense, freewheeling conversation about their childhoods worries the other passengers, especially Dean’s stories about his alcoholic father. Sal and Dean do not think highly of the other passengers. They’re grey, dull people who spend their whole lives consumed by worry. That evening, one of the male passengers makes sexual advances toward Dean, who seizes on the opportunity to try and extract some money from the old man. He fails. Dean gets to drive for a while. He drives at a frightening speed and worries the others even more. When the car pulls into Denver, Sal and Dean exit. The other passengers are relieved.

Part 3, Chapters 1-5 Analysis

Part 3 of On the Road returns to Denver. Whereas in the opening chapters Sal’s first visit to Denver was a string of exciting parties and memorable evenings, his second visit is dull. Without his friends, Sal discovers that the city doesn’t have much to offer him. He works a boring job and lives in a boring place, all the time thinking about being somewhere else. Though these passages might seem lifeless compared to many of Sal’s other adventures, they provide an important contrast. First, they show that Sal’s life is not a constant string of absurd and exciting adventures. Second, they illustrate the importance of people. Sal discovers that what he really loved about Denver were his friends and the memories they made together. The city itself has no innate quality that intrigues or excites him. For all the time that Sal has spent on the road, the relationships and friendships he builds during these adventures are more important than the simple geography that surrounds him. While he appreciates the Rocky Mountains in the distance and the Mississippi River whenever he can see it, these natural wonders pale in comparison to the presence of his friends. Sal leaves Denver not because the city has changed, but because he has changed his mind. He doesn’t necessarily love Denver; he loves the people he met there and the time they spent together.

As a result of this revelation, Sal seeks out Dean. For the first time, Sal goes to Dean rather than vice versa. In the earlier two parts of the book, Dean burst into Sal’s life and dragged him out on adventures. With Dean struggling in San Francisco, Sal takes up Dean’s role in their friendship. This pivotal moment gives Dean a newfound respect for Sal, realizing that for the first time in his life, he has a friend who comes to help him. He discovers the value of having a reliable friend who can provide emotional support. Dean, who had an alcoholic, absent father, finds solace in his friendship with Sal and becomes emotionally dependent on him.

In addition, Sal’s visit to San Francisco illustrates his growing maturity. When he arrives, Camille at once realizes that her relatively stable relationship with Dean is temporarily over. She cannot hope to keep him in the city, even though they’re married and have a child. Sal’s arrival means that Dean will abandon his responsibilities and go out on a new adventure. Sal watches Camille carefully as this realization dawns. For the first time, he feels empathy for the people affected by his actions. Dean and Sal lie, cheat, and steal their way across America. When Camille cries, however, Sal feels remorse for the first time. Although he does nothing to stop Dean from leaving (and even encourages him to head back out on the road), Sal’s recognition of the pain he has caused Camille reflects his emotional development as he comes to terms with the people left behind in the destructive wake of his adventures. Life on the road has a cost, Sal realizes, mostly for other people. For now, Sal is willing to live with that cost.