Trinity

The Beat Generation February 18, 2009

While reading Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg for class today, I was struck by the extent of their rejection of traditional American social conventions.  The movement that grew out of their ideas and patterned itself after their writing completely denied the sensibilities and the responsibilities of the generations prior to theirs, choosing instead to explore a counterculture of sex, drugs, and Eastern mysticism.  To me, the connection between this movement and the radical counterculture of the Vietnam era seemed obvious; however, I was surprised to find out that Kerouac broke with Ginsberg and rejected the hippie movement as little more than an excuse for wildness and as destructive of American culture.  This caused me to wonder what exactly Kerouac’s conception of American culture entailed, because from the reading it seemed like the only positive thing he has to say about American culture is that it tolerates his countercultural behavior.