Thelma & Louise

One of the most significant scenes in the movie is when Thelma says, "I feel really awake. I don't recall ever feeling this awake. You know? Everything looks different now. You feel like that? You feel like you got something to live for?" For Thelma and Louise, a road trip is defined as a way to put distance between them and their life back home. Their life back home made them feel sedated, unable to express themselves. I believe they were tired of settling. Traveling together gave them a chance to take back control of their lives and "for once just really let their hair down." And because of this, they felt more awake and alive.

If someone tells you they have been convicted of armed robbery, why would you leave $6700 laying on top of the bed table?

Thelma and Louise

I don't have a specific part of the movie that has not been addressed yet; however, I did notice how both their transformations from femininity to masculinity can be seen but the way they dressed. Louise and Thelma start the road trip with typical girlwear such as dresses. They slowly start dressing more rugged as they get in trouble with the law. They start to take on a more masculine role by wearing jeans, sleeveless jean jackets, etc. What probably completed the transformation was when Thelma put on that trucker hat after they blew up the 18 wheeler. This movie shows how the road trip can lead to identity change based on the events that occur on the road.

Why did the cop show such trust and affection for the outlaws?

Thelma and Louise

In my opinion, the part that is most significant, is when Thelma robs the store. She is finally breaking out of her shell for the first time after being in a controlling relationship, and does something she is in control of for once. She realizes the trouble that Louise is in, and will do anything to help her one true best friend. You can tell that the significance of the roadtrip for Thelma is to finally do something for herself instead of listening to her husband, seen from the very beginning of the movie, but I don't think she does anything to break out of her shell until this point in the movie. After this point, it's clear her loyalty is to Louise and getting them both out of the lives they've been living.

Was the decision they made at the end of the movie the best one? Would they have been able to get out of the trouble they were in? How did everyone feel about the ending?

Thelma and Louise

For me, the scene that showed what this road trip has been for Thelma and Louise was towards the end of the movie, when they are driving in the desert after the police chase (the 1st one). Then Thelma says to Louise: "I guess I went a little crazy, huh?" and Louise responds "No, you've always been a little crazy, this is just the first time you've had a chance to express yourself." This moment shows the transformation that the road trip has been for Thelma. She started off as a trapped housewife, at times unsure of herself and following Louise's lead. As events in the movie progressed, Thelma became more of a leader, taking charge of situations that Louise could not, and forgetting about the expectations that society has about how a woman should act. In this movie, a road trip has the ability to bring out qualities that are hidden deep inside someone by taking away limitations and providing inspiration on the open road.

Question: Why did that one detective care so much about what happened to Thelma and Louise, when the rest of the men in this movie (except for Louise's boyfriend - I can't remember his name) were portrayed in such a chauvinistic light? Why was he different?

Thelma and Louise

I think the scene where Thelma and Louise found out that they were robbed by "Brad Pitt" at the hotel was significant. Here, Thelma and Louise switched role. Louise is usually the head-strong, determined, and courageous one while Thelma is the weak and dependent one. At this scene, the two switched role. Thelma stepped up and became the leader for the moment in time and helped Louise get herself back together.

I feel like this movie defines "road trip" as companionship. This companionship helps Thelma and Louise grow stronger together while finding out more and more about each other as they are escaping to Mexico.

Why did they call Daryl knowing that there might be a chance that the police were there?

Thelma and Louise

The scene when Louise first says she's going to Mexico was significant in the movie. I think the scene shows their purpose for their travels although the movie did not start out this way. Their trip becomes an escape from the crime Louise has committed and an escape from their old way of life. They realize that it is too late for them to turn back, so they run and avoid being caught. They know that they have lost everything they had, so they continue to commit crimes without anything to lose. Their only option of escape is to keep moving. As the movie progresses, I think that they gain the freedom to express themselves, and in order to keep their freedom, they avoid getting caught even until the end.

What would have happened if they just turned themselves in?

Easy Rider Moment

The moment where we see Fonda and Hopper get on their motorcycles is where the definition of road trip is defined in this movie. A road trip is a very American idea in this movie, and in everything else we've read this semester; traveling the open road, and "finding America." Riding motorcycles on road trips seems to be a very American idea, and even the clothes Fonda wears and the bike he rides flaunts the stars and stripes.

Is it possible for the idea of a road trip to be un-American?

Easy Rider

I think that the scene where Billy and Wyatt meet the rancher and go have a meal with him, describes travel or a roatrip. This is because traveling is about new experiences and meeting new people and just learning something new. They then travel and pick up a hitch hiker where they proceed to go to his so called "commune." This is pretty much hippy central and life is a struggle. This type of travel is not something I would feel comfortable with but, I think it would be kind of cool in a way that you can experience new things and learn how different people are from you.

Easy Rider

I thought the scene at the beginning of the movie when Wyatt discards his wrist watch helps to illustrate the attitude or spirit of their road trip (rebellious, carefree). And then later Wyatt says to the rancher, "You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud." I think this is what Wyatt and Billy are searching for on their road trip, personal freedom. They are doing their own thing on their own time, free from time constraints and social conventions.

Question: What did Captain America mean when he said, "We blew it."?

When Wyatt, Billy and George were talking in the woods before they were beaten up in their sleep, Billy and George were talking, and George said "What you represent to them is freedom," and I think that is what the movie is trying to say about the road trip. In this movie, Wyatt and Billy do what they want to do, while on their way to New Orleans. They do drugs and they even "participate" in a parade and get arrested for doing it without a permit.

Question: What did Wyatt mean by "we blew it" at the end? From what aspect is he saying that? Financially? Spiritually?

Easy Rider

"Got my own world to live through and I ain't gunna copy you"
This line is in a song that plays when they're riding their motorcycles.

This line describes the boys perfectly. They take smoke and take drugs throughout the movie to get away to their own world. They see the world in a different light when they're high. They do what they choose to do and when they want to do it. They don't live for anyone else or to abide by anyone else's rules. They just ride on their motorcycles picking up who ever they want and see the country. Even the place, Mardi Gras, that they ended up in is a place where people go to escape.

Why did those men come and beat them up when they were asleep?

Easy Rider Moment

"This used to be a hell of a good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it."

I believe this line is a good example of what the road trip meant for Wyatt, Billy, and later George. This line occurs after the three men attempt to eat at a small diner in Louisiana. However, they were met with scorn from the local men who chased them from the diner.

This was what their road trip was about, exploring what was occurring across this country. Along their road to freedom, they find the new social and physical landscape of America and can take those experiences (good or bad) towards their road of freedom. They have changed because their country changed.

Question: Why was the end of the movie so violent?

Easy Rider

I thought that the song "Born To Be Wild" represented how the movie showed the concept of road trip. The first lines really stood out to me and include:
"Get your motor running
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure"
When the song was played, the movie was showing Wyatt and Billy on their motorcycles on the road. It seemed like they were riding carefree and enjoying themselves. They seemed to be looking for a way of life, running into interesting encounters. Their journey was indeed adventurous, stopping at small local towns, smoking and getting high, and even getting themselves thrown into jail.

During the 1960s, were drugs used as a way of escaping the burdens of life?

I Know a Man, Creeley

"the darkness surrounds us, what can we do against it"

This was the moment in the poem when I actually understood some kind of meaning behind the poem. The darkness represents conflict to the narrator - something that he and John must deal with or get away from. The narrator is clearly worried about this darkness, but it seems that John is possibly annoyed with his rambling, and just wants him to pay attention to the road.

What is the darkness that surrounds them? How will buying a "goddamn big car" help them to escape this darkness?

"I Know a Man" - Robert Creeley

I don't feel this poem has one significant moment. However, the poem as a whole is significant because of the way it is written. I find it ironic that he titled the poem, "I Know a Man," yet he doesn't even state his "friend's" name. This poem is unique because there seem to be two different things happening at once. First, you have the man speaking to "John," about something that is really out of their control at the moment (buying a car). Then, you have the passenger who essentially snaps the driver back to the present and tells him to focus on the road before they crash. Perhaps this means that the driver is living in a surreal world, while the passenger is a dull individual who lives life as it comes to him.

I do agree with Kathy about the nervous wreck part, and wonder what makes him keep talking all the time. Is it perhaps because if he always talks, he never has to face or answer a tough question? And how come he didn't just go ahead and tell us the name of his good friend from the start?

"I Know a Man" by Creeley

There was not a part of the poem that was more significant than others. I feel like the whole poem itself is significant. The title "I Know a Man" was ironic. "Knowing" something or someone is personal, but the whole tone and feel of the poem is far from that. Another irony can be seen when he stated "why not, buy a goddamn big car" in the 3rd stanza and "look out where yr going" in the 4th stanza. The first statement give a feel of spontaneity and outrageousness while the latter gives a feeling of restraint. Creeley in a way can be compared to Kerouac. Although they are want to be spontaneous, courageous, and random, they in someway have restraints and boundaries.

Why did Creely used "sd" and "yr" instead of just simply saying "said" or "you are"? Is there a significant meaning to this?

Alive by Joy Harjo

"Alive. This music rocks me. I drive the interstate, watch faces come and go on either side. I am free to be sung to; I am free to sing. This woman can cross any line."

When I read this part of the poem, I could almost feel the author coming to life again.  The author gains a new appreciation for life (or is reconnecting with her life).  She has an emotional response from the music, and she sees people coming and going when maybe she never took the time to notice.  It seems as though she has become an open vessel that has no worldly boundaries, ready to give and receive. Perhaps in this instance, a road trip is a way to reconnect with oneself.

Robert Creeley's, "I Know a Man"

I chose this poem because I felt that it had a unique tone. It sounds like the speaker is a bit of a nervous, stammering wreck. The speaker is very vague and that type of vagueness gives us nothing to hold onto as readers. I think it's odd that he doesn't know his friends name and that he says he is always talking. The title of the poem is "I Know a Man," but how can you know someone if you a. don't know the persons name and b. you're always constantly talking. Sometimes getting to know someone is about listening.

The dialogue he is having with his friend could be seen as him having to either look to the future (i.e. buying that car) or keeping in mind that he needs to focus on the present (i.e. look out where you're going) Another thing is that the speaker might want to continue driving in order to not have to face what is going on in the present. Perhaps his constant driving is a journey to escape whatever it is that makes him a nervous wreck.

Discussion Question: Why do you think the Creeley wrote this particular poem in this manner? Why does the speaker narrate his life in such a way?

Alive by Joy Harjo

"I drive the interstate, watch faces come and go on either side. I am free to be sung to; I am free to sign. This woman can cross any line."

I was not really sure of the reference made by this poem, but this part of the poem stood out to me. The author here uses the reference of "drive the interstate" as a way to express the freedom/escape gained by the women. I feel it kind of relate to Kerovac's On the Road that both shows that traveling serves a way to get away from some sort of distress and discontent.

Question: I feel this poem reflects some sort of the distress and fear faced by the woman and that she wants to get away with it. But I wonder what exactly is this sort of fear or distress that the author is referencing here?

"Alive" by Joy Harjo

"Sometimes I am afraid of the sound of soundlessness" makes me think that the author is holding herself back. Shes afraid. I think the poem is about escaping life in general. Especially the 6th stanza, "I tried every escape...". The author tried different ways of escaping everyday life even resulting to drinking. Nothing worked until she just stopped and really looked at what was around her. Once she realized that life is great she opened up and finally felt free.

Women in Cars -- Martha McFerren

This poem was difficult to understand until midway through when she began talking about taking off clothes. The author never really mentions having sex in the car persay but it seems implied by the undressing in the car. One can only imagine what the author was thinking. It seems more subjective as to what the author was insinuating such as whether or not actual sex was performed or instead some other sexual activity was performed.
Perhaps the importance of this rather promiscuous poem is that road trips often make people feel adventurous and can lead to bold behavior. The freedom associated with privacy on the road may be an aphrodesiac (sp) which may cause people to partake in "abnormal" behavior.

Steinbeck: Travel With Charley

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip take us." Pg 767

This part of the story clearly defines Steinbeck's definition of "travel." A "travel" is something that is special for each individual. It is a part of their maturity into wisdom with their own experiences during the journey. As in The Road Trip, Steinbeck's points out that a journey cannot be planned, "safeguards, policing," or be analyzed. A journey should be spontaneous, random, and risky in order to truly become a "traveler" and not just a "tourist." Let the "trip take us" far and wide, and not be so limited to things that are planned!

Although Steinbeck talks about being spontaneous, random, and not have "plans, and safeguards," why is it that his whole trip was kind of planned?

Steinbeck: Travels With Charley

p. 771 "I saw in their eyes something I was to see over and over in every part of the nation -- a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any Here. They spoke quietly of how they wanted to go someday, to move about, free and unanchored, not toward something but away from something. I saw this look and heard this yearning everywhere in every state I visited. Nearly every American hungers to move."

Question: Where does this yearning desire come from? And, do you think Steinbeck capitalized "Here" to mimic Joseph Addison's use of capital letters?

Travels with Charley page 780

"But maps are not reality at all -- they can be tyrants. I know people who are so immersed in road maps that they never see the countryside they pass through, and others who, having traced a route, are held to it as though held by flanged wheels to trails"

Although John Steinbeck's definition of the road trip seems to slightly differ from Kerouac's, in this quote we see how the definitions are similar. Kerouac believes that a road trip must not be planned out and spontaneity, mystery and adventure are the most important characteristics of a road trip. However in Travels with Charley we get a slightly different definition from Steinbeck, that a road trip should be planned and laid out, as Jessica explained. In this quote however, we see that although there should be some planning or future destination in mind, along the way the road trip should still be spontaneous and adventurous. I think he is saying that people are so consumed with getting to their final destinations, following maps so closely, that they forget to look out their windows and see the beautiful parts of the country they don't normally get to see. They don't take full advantage of the road trip because they are so obsessed with staying on track with the map and miss out on the "adventure" part of the trip they are taking. It is important even when we have a final destination or a planned general route to follow, to not forget to look at our surroundings and soak up the beauty and the uniqueness of each different place.

Question: Several places throughout the reading we see that he wants to escape from "Here". Why is this constantly capitalized and what does he mean by Here?

John Steinbeck

Page 768 top paragraph, "In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."

I believe that these 2 sentences describe Steinbeck's feelings about a journey very well. He, like Kerouac describes a journey as something you cant control and that you encounter many different situations on the way even though you think you have a "plan". I find it interesting that he compares it to a marriage because like a journey a marriage is unpredictable and there are many things that a husband and wife/traveler and the road must go through to "survive".

On page 767 he states "We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." I I find that this quote helps to explain his comparison of the road to marriage because everything is unpredictable. You can plan and hope for the best with no troubles but there will always be obstacles that you must fight through to make it and call both successful. Along the way you find out many more things about yourself and your partner(in a marriage), which if you hadn't gotten to experience the journey, you might never have been exposed to and learned about.

Do you think that this narrator is going to learn more about himself than Sal on his trip because he has his own form of transportation, or do you think that this greatly hinders his spontaneity and experience?

John Steinback

Pg. 767 (first page of part one) "Next he must plan his trip in time and space, choose a direction and a destination. And last he must implement the journey. How to go, what to take, how long to stay."

This differs from Jack Kerouac's perspective of a road trip. In Kerouac's novel, a road trip comes out of spontaneity, and Sal goes whereever the road takes him. He does not have a specific route that he takes and just catches rides with whoever comes along. In John Steinback's description, it seems like the journey is not spontaneous and includes some type of planning. From this quote, he shows that to take on a journey, one must plan ahead, knowing the general direction and paths to take.

The narrator has mentioned that people want to get "away from Here" in a couple of sentences. What does he mean when he says "Here"?

On the Road, pg. 92

"'We're all in this together!' yelled Ponzo. I saw that was so - everywhere I went, everybody was in it together" (92).

I thought that this quote summed up the experience that Sal has had while interacting with other people on this trip. As we discussed after reading Whittman's poem, one element of a road trip is that when you meet people on your journey, everybody is traveling on the same road - there is a sense of commonality, a shared experience. Sal has met many different types of characters on this trip, but they all have at least one thing in common: they are connected by the road they are traveling. It seems that Sal has realized that although people have different problems and different destinations, humanity shares a common struggle. It reminds me of that quote by Thoreau that says "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desparation."

Now that his plans for a job on a boat have fallen through, it seems that Sal has changed. How has the forced spontaneity of this part of his trip changed him?

On The Road Ch. 11-14

p. 106 "Isn't it true that you start your life a sweet child believing in everything under your father's roof? Then comes the day of the Laodiceans, when you know you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, and with the visage of a gruesome grieving ghost you go shuddering through nightmare life.  I stumbled haggardly out of the station; I had no more control.  All I could see of the morning was a whiteness like the whiteness of the tomb.  I was starving to death."

This quote reminds me of something Sal said at the beginning of the book, "...and my feeling that everything was dead" and how he was a "ghost in his own house." His journey to the east and back left him starving, and this leads me to believe his journey was unfulfilled in some way, that Sal hadn't been handed the pearl he alluded to earlier in the book. 

Question: Do you think the Ghost of the Susquehanna is a foreshadowing of Sal's future?

On the Road - pg. 73

"It was just the loneliness of San Francisco and the fact that I had a gun. I had to show it to someone. I walked by a jewelry store and had the sudden impulse to shoot up the window, take out the finest rings and bracelets, and run to give them to Lee Ann. Then we could flee to Nevada together. The time was coming for me to leave Frisco or I'd go crazy." (pg. 73)

These lines in the first part of the book describes Sal's journey thus far. Sal continues his travels in order to survive. Saying that it is time for him to leave San Francisco shows that constant movement is a survival tactic that Sal uses in order to not feel dissatisfied with these lifestyles that he is thrown into. His dissatisfaction and restlessness appears to come from his failures in seducing women and the failing relationships in San Francisco.

In class, we discussed the importance of being spontaneous and the role it plays in Sal's journey. The characters and tales we discover along the way are a result of his desire to find a more fulfilling addition to his story. Sal is a person who wants his journey to be about movement and novelty.

My question is why does Sal find that the West is empty while the East is "brown and holy"? This journey was for him to find new stories but it appears that the more he travels the more he becomes frustrated with his decisions. So why is he appearing to dislike his decisions?

On the Road pg 67

"Now you got to make up your mind one way or the other, or you'll never get anywhere... but all I wanted to do was sneak out into the night and disappear somewhere, and go and find out what everybody was doing all over the country." (page 67)

This quote in chapter 11 sums up Sal's road trip perfectly. Once Sal finally gets a job as a cop with Remi he questions himself as he always does and thinks that he is not made out to be a cop. All he can think about is how much he would rather be out somewhere meeting other people instead of working and making money. In the end of part 1 Sal travels back to New York and says "it was October, home and work again." The way he goes back and forth from one way of life to another and always wants what he doesn't currently have proves to me that he is indecisive in the kind of person he is and the kind of life he wants to live. We said in class that if you are everything, you are nothing and this makes sense because he cannot choose a path or settle with one way of life. Sal never sticks to one job, one woman, one city or a way of life that will provide stability and normalcy. I definitely think his spontaneity is a distraction for him and a way for him to dismiss his problems and his questions about his lifestyle. Once he finds something that satisfies him just a little bit, he moves on and wishes for something else, something new.

Question: Why did Sal search for a woman throughout his journey, complaining about how lonely he was and how he wanted a woman so badly, and once he found one he loved he gave her up so easily?

On The Road, Chapters 11-14

Page 75.." I hid in my corner with my head between my knees. Gad, what was I doing three thousand miles from home? Why had I come here? Where was my slow boat to China?"

I believe this quote sums up Sals' trip perfectly. This quote shows us that Sal is fed up with what he is doing on his road trip across the US. It could be that his spontaneity has gone too far and he finally feels like he cant just pick up and run away from city to city/reality anymore. It seems that without grounding he is falling apart. Earlier Sal said "Who am I? What am I doing?" and at this point is he asking himself the same type of question. It is as if Sal is escaping from every destination he goes to looking for a better destination, while always having a some sort of doubt in his mind. He is now realizing that he should have thought things through before making the road trip rather than not having much of a plan, not having much money and being alone on this journey.

Question: Do you think Sal feels so distraught at this point because he is on this journey alone or because he has no real plan to follow?