The individual against society in Kerouac and Ginsberg A prevalent theme in much of the literature we have covered so far is that it is highly critical of society's conformist values late 1950s. In an era of Levittown, supermarkets and ubiquitous television, there was a call to leave conformist suburban culture in search of something higher. Two of the main advocates of the individual as opposed to society were Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, two of the central figures of the Beat movement. Through their work it is possible to gain perspective on the nonconformist spirit that simmered beneath the surface of Beat culture. The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac, tells us through the mouth of Ray Smith about his time with Japhy the Zen Lunatic. His narrative describes a critique of modern culture, with its demands, expectations and plastic rewards. Even the title of the book suggests this, as the Buddhist word Dharma means one's niche, or spiritual duty in the universe. So a Dharma Bum would be someone whose natural place in the world, where he rightfully belongs, is to live the life of a transient. In other words, Kerouac is saying that there is no shame in a life that is outside the normal scope of society, if that is where someone's life takes us. A central theme of The Dharma Bums is Buddhism. One of the most important things to note about religion in this book is the two forms it takes and the significance these forms have on the plot and meaning of the book. Ray Smith is a neophyte of the Theraveda school of Buddhism, which is a school dedicated to the movement towards enlightenment. According to the teaching of the Theraveda canon, everything a person does should be done with the ultimate goal of person... middle of paper... to the top of the mountain and climbing even higher. However, Ginsberg sees the desolation and decay of our society in a homogeneous and conformist mess. The reason for this difference could be attributed to their particular situations; as they both rose higher and higher in both Beat circles and the literary world, Ginsberg was still grappling with his sexuality and his past. In any case, through the readings of these poets, it becomes clear that both were supporters of individualism and that both condemned conformism. By the late 1950s, the main question on these men's minds would have been whether we could rise above "crapulous, faceless, wonderless civilization." Works Cited Allen, Donald, ed. The new American poetry 1945-1960. Berkely, CA.: U. of California P., 1999. Kerouac, Jack. Dharma wanderers. New York: the penguin group, 1976.