On the Road

The group passes through Washington D.C. on the same day as Harry Truman’s second inauguration. Even though everyone tells him to drive carefully, Ed’s reckless road manner compels a police officer to pull him over. The officer takes the group to a police station and issues them a $25 fine, although the police want to charge them with more. After paying the fine, the group have only $15 to get across the country. To pay for their gas money, they pick up hitchhikers. The first is a scrawny Jewish man who claims that he has found the Torah in the wild. The second is a depressed young man who pretends that his aunt will give them gas money. Neither of them contributes any money.

The group’s journey takes them through parts of the South. Dean waits until one gas station attendant isn’t looking and steals gas. He also tells the rest of the group about his troubled life. As a boy, he stole rides on freight trains with his alcoholic father, he lost his virginity at the age of nine, and he committed all sorts of crimes. The group passes through Louisiana and visits Bull Lee. His broken-down home on swampy ground at the edges of a town.