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On the Road Dissatisfaction Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #13

I woke up with a big headache. Slim was gone - to Montana, I guess. I went outside. And there in the blue air I saw for the first time, far off, the great snowy tops of the Rocky Mountains. I took a deep breath. I had to get to Denver at once. (I.5.13)

Sal’s concern is only with what lies ahead of him.

Quote #14

I said to myself, Wow! What’ll Denver be like! I got on that hot road, and off I went in a brand-new car driven by a Denver businessman of about thirty-five. He went seventy. I tingled all over; I counted minutes and subtracted miles. Just ahead, over the rolling wheatfields all golden beneath the distant snows of Estes, I’d be seeing old Denver at last. I pictured myself in a Denver bar that night, with all the gang, and in their eyes I would be strange and ragged and like the Prophet who has walked across the land to bring the dark Word, and the only Word I had was "Wow!" The man and I had a long, warm conversation about our respective schemes in life, and before I knew it we were going over the wholesale fruitmarkets outside Denver; there were smokestacks, smoke, railyards, red-brick buildings, and the distant downtown gray-stone buildings, and here I was in Denver. (I.5.15)

Sal compares his travels to that of a religious figure, imbuing them with importance and allowing the reader to sense his own feelings of urgency.

Quote #15

And all I could say was, "Well, what the hell are we doing in Denver?" (I.7.26)

No sooner does Sal arrive at a given location before he wants to leave again.