Significant Moment: On the Road

"...and I shambled after as I've been doing all of my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

I think this is a significant moment in the first three chapters because it shows the true character of the narrator. It seems to me that he is a simple and sort of bland, boring man who lives through the excitement of other people's lives. There were several references in the first three chapters of how interesting and different the people he met were and how they intrigued him in many ways. Even some of the things he saw brought out excitement in him that today many of us just look past. In New Orleans I drove by the Mississippi River everyday not thinking much about it so it struck me in the beginning of chapter 3 how he describes it as his "beloved Mississippi River" going on in greater detail.

Perhaps this road trip is a way for him to get out on his own, away from living in other people's shadows and experience things on his own for a little bit. He gets out of his comfort zone in these first three chapters and meets new people and experiences things he hasn't ever before. We talked on Monday about how mystery, excitement, hardships, adventure and experiences all define "road trip" and we have already seen this road trip impact the overall character of the narrator.

My question is: Do you think that a road trip is the best way for a person to find out more about themselves?