Clarity in the Fog
It is intimated that Duluoz (Kerouac) retreats to Big Sur in the attempt to find enlightenment and clarity, yet Big Sur is an incredibly foggy place, and therefore an unclear setting.
A Dangerous Escape from Danger
Duluoz leaves the big city to escape his dangerous lifestyle, yet in order to reach the cabin at Big Sur he must traverse an incredibly dangerous cliffside road at night.
A Lonely Aloneness
In order to sober up, Duluoz realizes that he must be alone yet he is not there for even a week before he grows very lonely. It is seemingly impossible to balance the perfect of measure of solitude and loneliness necessary for Duluoz to find peace of mind.
Solitude and Privacy
After publishing On the Road, Kerouac grew famous. In Big Sur, he mocks this fame and finds it troublesome. He suggests that his reputation as "King of the Beats" is very hard to live up to, and that he has "been driven mad for three years by endless telegrams, phone calls, requests, mail, visitors, reporters, snoopers." He retreats to Big Sur to find some privacy, yet at the same time he documents the trip and publishes it. There is a deep irony here between privacy and fame, solitude and notoriety, distinctions that would plague Kerouac throughout his life.
The Image vs. the Man
In confronting the notions of his fame, Kerouac also confronts the images of himself. As he writes, people view him as "'26 years old and on the road all the time hitch hiking' while there I am almost 40 years old, bored and jaded." While the popular image of him was that of a restless adventurer, an image created by Kerouac's own novels, the real man was depressed and disillusioned, an image also revealed in his novels.
