On the Road: the Trope of Mobility in American Literature and Culture

This thesis takes a vertical approach in exploring the trope of the road in American literature and culture by focusing on its meaning throughout different texts, literary traditions and historical times. Through three main chapters, the evolution of the road myth is traced and its significance is considered, alongside a critical stance on its limitations and contested meanings. The first chapter delves into the foundational concepts of the mythic archetype of the road that emerged shortly after the founding of the nation. These considerations are then extended to Jack Kerouac, who transformed the road myth into a defining trope of contemporary American culture in his book On The Road (1957). Expanding beyond Kerouac, this chapter questions the limits of the traditional myth of the road by examining its racial and gender exclusions. The second chapter addresses the ways in which the myth has overlooked the realities of women. The analysis includes a discussion of women's domesticity drawing on Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), a seminal work in women’s studies and feminist theory. The third and final chapter concentrates on the African American experience by analyzing the case of the Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide that provides historical proof of the roadblocks and hardships black travelers faced, thus excluding them from the freedom narrative implied by the road myth. To address this topic, an extensive background on the Great Migration is provided, along with an analysis of The Warmth of Other Suns (2010) by Isabel Wilkerson.