Neal as God?

For Jack Kerouac, going west was not just about finding his friends in Denver, but also about discovering the country he called home and possibly finding a bit of himself along the way. Kerouac’s personality was more of a sponge than anything else, soaking up the tendencies of the mad men he chose to call friends. This dependent tendency can be strikingly seen even from the beginning of the novel. Kerouac starts the novel by introducing his friend Neal Cassidy in the very first line: “I first met Neal not long after my father died” (109). Cassidy’s antics strongly influence Kerouac and his behavior. This sponge-like attribute to Kerouac may be recognized as a fault to some. But to Kerouac it was a response to his surroundings. In a time period characterized by unfortunate events and a need for faith, Kerouac found all the emotions he needed to live by simply being around his friends. His religion was the friends themselves, and god was none other than Neal Cassidy. Cassidy was described as being the “perfect guy for the road because he actually was born on the road” and this made him the perfect higher power for the ever moving Kerouac “(109). Religion is formed on stead-fast belief and rituals. The passage of Cassidy in and out of Kerouac became the ritual that started the religion and the steadfast belief that Kerouac placed in Cassidy’s higher knowledge is as strong as any other faith.