(Very) Rough Draft

**Please let it be known I have this vigorous writing agenda. This is the first step, which is essentially a stream-of-consciousness form; and also a skeleton of a draft.

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            When one pictures the idea of a true American, the first thoughts that pop into their head will be the different symbols we chose to represent ourselves, such as the cowboy. However, if that person is Jack Kerouac, he might give a different answer. That is because in Kerouac’s essay, “The Great American Hobo,” he builds up the homeless as an American symbol of their own. Instead of leaving the hobos “in the dumps,” he chose to idolize them, and give the world a new perspective of them. Through his dreamy descriptions, his various connections made throughout, and his stints of dialogue, Kerouac creates a piece which solidifies the American homeless as an asset to our country, signifying some of our greatest aspects.

            The idea of being homeless has the most negative feeling attached to it. In the media, the homeless are often displayed as drug addicts, psychotics and those who are just too lazy to make anything of themselves. This is not entirely false, but after reading this essay, it is hard to settle with that. Kerouac, throughout the essay, creates the idea of the hobo representing freedom. He does this by using very appealing language, turning the hobo into a wise, respectable character. He describes the hobo as being on this long endeavor, this “idealistic lope to freedom and the hills of holy silence and holy privacy” (2976). Kerouac also describes the homeless lifestyle as “a definite special idea of footwalking freedom” (2977). This use of freedom really solidifies his point. The American hobo is truly the idea of freedom—they have nothing to hold them back, only looking forward to whatever adventure awaits them.

            Throughout “The Vanishing American Hobo,” Kerouac relates the homeless to many famous American idols as a means to break this negative stigma around them. Some of the examples he uses are Johnny Appleseed and Jim Bridger, both important historical figures that led a somewhat hobo lifestyle. Kerouac also relates the hobo to Benjamin Franklin: “Benjamin Franklin was like a hobo in Pennsylvania, he walked through Philly with three big rolls under his arms and a Massachusetts halfpenny on his hat” (2977). This is quite a significant relation, as Benjamin Franklin is one of the founding fathers of our country. He is also an American symbol, not just for his appearance on the hundred-dollar bill, but because of his legacy as a freedom fighter. Relating the hobo to Franklin paints a clear image of what Kerouac sees; a hobo is wise and seeks to learn the truths that one must search for. Kerouac further mentions Walt Whitman and John Muir, a poet and a naturalist/preservationist respectably. He even goes as far to name Teddy Roosevelt—a “political hobo”—and Vachel Lindsay. These connections are not accidental, Kerouac is purposefully relating the homeless to such intelligent, influential figures as a means to solidify their place; these men and women are not losers, and they’re not junkies: they are the artists, they are the geniuses, who strive for more than what they are given. Kerouac describes a hobo smoking his pipe as being similar to men in Japan, who isolate themselves in huts in order to find enlightenment. From this one can assess that Kerouac believes, wholeheartedly, that these people are truly the enlightened ones. When you break from society—a home, a car, taxes, jobs—you find inner peace, this otherwise unattainable sense of being.

            Towards the end of the essay, Kerouac incorporates bits of dialogue, which seem to be his way of giving us a direct example of what a hobo is. Except, instead of coming off as sophisticated, intelligent people, they come off as being rather simple.

            Although Kerouac does not necessarily make the homeless out to be something they’re not, he still manages to solidify their place as an American symbol. They may not be the cleanest, but overall, after reading this essay, one can definitely see how they are the freest people. Isn’t that what everyone really wants: to be free?