On the Road Characters

On the road is based off of Jack Kerouac's road trip, and all of the main characters in On The Road are based off of real life people, many of them others Beats of the Beat Generation.
This is a key for the characters in the book and who they are in real life:

Sal Paradise (narrator) - Jack Kerouac (author)
Jack Kerouac is one of the most famous writers of the 20th century, and certainly the most famous writer of the Beat generation. His most famous novel, On The Road, is called "the novel that defined a generation."
The dedication of Allen Ginsberg's book of poetry, Howl and Other Poems reads: "To-- Jack Kerouac, new Budha of American prose, who spit forth intelligence into eleven books written in half the number of years (1951-1956)--On The Road, Visions of Neal, Dr. Sax, Springtime Mary, The Subterraneans, San Francisco Blues, Some of the Dharma, Book of Dreams, Wake Up, Mexico City Blues, and Visions of Gerad--creating a spontaneous bop prosody and original classic literature. Several phrases and the title of Howl are taken from him."
Sal's Aunt - Gabrielle Kerouac

Rollo Greb - Alan Ansen


Old Bull Lee - William S. Burroughs
 William S. Burroughs was one of the authors of the Beat movement. In the dedication of the book of poems by Allen Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems, it reads, "To--...William Seward Burroughs, author of Naked Lunch, an endless novel which will drive everybody mad."
Jane - Joan Vollmer

Damion - Lucien Carr

Dean Moriarty - Neal Cassady
Neal Cassady was one of the authors of the Beat generation and good friends with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others. Much of Kerouac's writing is about or includes Neal Cassady. He is also featured heavily in Allen Ginsberg's famous poem, Howl. 
In the dedication of Allen Ginsberg's book of poetry, Howl and Other Poems, it reads, "To--...Neal Cassady, author of The First Third, an autobiography (1949) which enlightened Buddha. 

Camille - Carolyn Cassady

Chad King - Hal Chase

Remi Boncoeur - Henri Cru

Terry - Bea Franco

Carlo Marx - Allen Ginsberg 
Allen Ginsberg is considered the best, most famous poet of the beats. His most famous poem, Howl is to poetry what On The Road was to prose, in relation to the beat movement. 
He was gay, and had a very close personal relationship with Neal Cassady. This can be seen in the book in the very intense conversations that Carlo and Dean have. 

Inez - Diana Hansen

Hal Hingham - Alan Harrington

Laura - Joan Haverty

Marylou - Luanne Henderson 
Marylou is Dean's lover. He is often hurt by her though, as is all of Dean's lovers. At one point, Marylou tells Sal that she wants to become his lover in San Francisco, but when they get there, Sal realizes that she is truly just in love with Dean, and is trying to connect to him through Sal.

Ed Dunkel - Al Hinkle

Galatea Dunkel - Helen Hinkle

Tom Snark - Jim Holmes

Tom Saybrook - John Clellon Holmes

Elmer Hassel - Herbert Huncke 











*Note: This is the blog post for Part 1