The Drug-Induced Development of Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2008-12-04 Altered States of Style: The Drug-Induced Development of Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose Eric M. Izant Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Izant, Eric M., "Altered States of Style: The Drug-Induced Development of Jack Kerouac's Spontaneous Prose" (2008). Theses and Dissertations. 1625. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1625 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ALTERED STATES OF STYLE: THE DRUG-INDUCED DEVELOPMENT OF JACK KEROUAC’S SPONTANEOUS PROSE by Eric Michael Izant A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of English Brigham Young University November 2008 Izant ii ABSTRACT Jack Kerouac’s spontaneous prose method was inspired in part by his use of drugs while writing. While there is abundant biographical evidence that Kerouac used drugs frequently, little attention has been paid to their effects on the development of his style. This thesis attempts to demonstrate that the altered states of consciousness produced by Kerouac’s drug use should be considered in conjunction with historical, cultural, and biographical forces in tracing the evolution of Kerouac’s creative growth. As a member of the Beat Generation, Kerouac used drugs both as a social statement of rebellion and for artistic insight. In fact, he consciously entered into a well- established tradition of writers looking to drugs as modern-day muses. Within this legacy, drugs were commonly viewed as chemical gateways to a transcendental realm of visionary truth that the artists could enter and return with, thus becoming a literary seer. Kerouac, who believed that the ossification of standardized written English into rigid forms of grammar and sentence construction curtailed its potential for complete communication, sought a prose style that would allow for a maximum of authenticity and fidelity to organic thought with a minimum of revision. Kerouac used drugs like amphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol, each of which offered unique modes of perception, to enter into new frameworks of consciousness, and then recreated these altered states in writing. These three substances—amphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol—served as the basis in the development of Kerouac’s style. Amphetamine, in the form of the over-the- counter drug Benzedrine, gave Kerouac the energy for his legendary typing marathons, allowing him to write On the Road in three weeks and The Subterraneans in three days. Izant iii While writing On the Road in particular, Kerouac began formulating the stylistic approach that he subsequently dubbed “spontaneous prose.” Its basic tenants, including a de-emphasis on revision, limited punctuation, and long sentences, were encouraged by Benzedrine’s stimulant properties, which tended to focus Kerouac’s attention on the exterior world of events, temporality, and movement. His amphetamine-induced texts attempt to communicate accurately by confessing the minutia of surface details. Kerouac’s spontaneous style, however, soon evolved into the “sketching” technique seen in Visions of Cody and Dr. Sax, partially as a result of his marijuana-induced desire to share subjective perceptions truthfully. Rather than focusing on the exterior world, the marijuana texts look inward for authenticity. Marijuana helped Kerouac facilitate this inner orientation by its pharmacodynamic tendency to induce dream-like, associative states; when reproduced textually, these impressions seemed to resemble the unconscious structures of Kerouac’s mind, which he shared hoping for complete communication via the universality of shared experience. Kerouac used both the amphetamine and marijuana modes to varying degrees and interchangeably for most of his career, and with the first section of Desolation Angels, written in sobriety, achieved their greatest synthesis, demonstrating that drugs were not the props to his style, but rather the impetus—even in the absence of drugs, Kerouac’s prose retained its own essential, idiosyncratic features. Finally, in the latter part of Kerouac’s career, alcohol proved that drugs could also negatively affect his style, as shown in Big Sur and Vanity of Duluoz. Their return to a plainer prose—some would say poorer prose—was no doubt the result of rampant alcohol abuse, and the unfortunate end to Kerouac’s life and writing. Izant iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to first thank my committee members for their hard work, dedication, and many readings on my behalf, especially since my thesis went well past the bounds of normal length. Thanks to Phillip Snyder, who served as an initial guide and mentor to this project as well as my chief advisor. Thanks to Trent Hickman, who not only inspired me to write my first paper on the Beats many years ago as an undergraduate, but also took time from a leave to serve on my committee. Thanks to Don Chapman, who was willing to engage in a subject outside his area of expertise and lend his considerable knowledge of linguistics to this project. Thanks to all of my family and friends for their support and encouragement during this last year. Finally, a special thanks to my wife Lara, who stood by me throughout the long process of writing and revision. It was she who acted as a sounding board and first gave me the courage to pursue this particular idea, and she also provided me with the continual motivation to work and the patience, understanding, and space that I needed. Izant v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Getting Up to Speed Modern-Day Muses.............................................................................................................1 Kerouac: Fact and Fiction...............................................................................................2 Overview of Project...................................................................................................8 The Visionary Tradition: The Formation of Kerouac’s Spontaneous Prose……..………13 The Drugged Writer......................................................................................................18 Chapter One: On the Road or on Benzedrine? A Quick History of Speed..................................................................................................25 Revising Kerouac’s Revision........................................................................................26 The Drug of Choice....…….………………............................................................28 Amphetamines: The Chemistry of Change........................................................................31 Neal Cassady: The Essential American........................................................................38 Making Good Time: The Perception of Speed in On the Road…………….....................41 Traveling to a Timeless Age.........................................................................................45 Crashing at the End of the Road..............................................................................49 The Subterraneans: Confessing the Story “Ere Time’s Up”.....……................................52 Chapter Two: A Style Truly Hallucinated Visions of Cody: Sketching the Mind on Marijuana..........................................................58 Sharing an Unspeakable Vision….....………………………………...........................65 Dr. Sax: Picturing the Unconscious……….……………………….…………………….71 Izant vi Writing Without Words................................................................................................74 Association and Sa/ex..............................................................................................81 Chapter Three: High on a Mountaintop A More Sober Analysis......................................................................................................89 Desolation Angels: A Synthesis of Styles….................................................................90 Coming Down: Kerouac’s Descent Into Alcoholism……………………........................95 Big Sur: Stuck in a Rut……………………………....................................................100 Vanity of Duluoz: The End of the Bottle................................................................104 Conclusion: Drugs—Muse or Master? The Birth of Drugs…….....……………………………………………………………..109 A Final Vision …….......................................................................................................114 Works Cited………………….........................................................................................118 Izant 1 INTRODUCTION: GETTING UP TO SPEED Modern-Day Muses The notion of the Muse has always been a mainstay of the Western literary tradition. Whether or not authors actually believed in the Muse, it stood as a symbol of artistic inspiration. Perhaps its enduring popularity comes from the fact that the creative process itself is mysterious, and best explained through such metaphors. Concealed in the depths of the mind, partaking of conscious and subconscious forces, artists have hoped, chanted, and prayed to somehow tap into this elusive well of power. While we now may deny the Muse in favor of a