Second 500 words

…The split shows the way in which the narrator still had something to look for; something to find on his journey. He was not content with what he had found yet, meaning he had not reached the destination. Their destinations were not the same and the narrator was not yet done looking for himself.

            Chris, the son of the narrator who further accompanies him on his trip, also experiences the conflict between the journey and the destination. Along with John and Sylvia, Chris finds comfort in the destination. This is first expressed through the boredom on the journey. This boredom leads to anger towards his father, as well as Chris acting out. He would refuse to eat and feel sick, as well as just leave when they would stop for the night. He is an adventurous child, and no one would help him fulfill this want. More importantly though, his need for the answers about his father show how he is more content on finding the destination. This journey and destination is metaphorical, but also aides the reader understand the novel as a whole. He wants to understand his father, the narrator, and see why they were no longer as close as they were. He was scared and would like to know why his father was acting so strangely. He wanted answers, as many children do, and does not care about how the answers could be achieved.

            This need for answers, as well as being content with the destination and not the journey, defines the character of Chris. He has a constant fear of his father. This fear is not because of his fathers actions, but because he does not want to lose his father or the rest of his family. Nothing makes sense to him, and he thinks that his father knows the answers to his questions. Little does he know that the narrator is having trouble defining himself. He continuously asks about his mother, and why she was not accompanying him on this trip. The reader never receives an answer, but sees the narrator has dreams of his wife. This shows that both the narrator and his son share the same feelings of losing their loved ones, which happen to be the same people. The actions and feelings that Chris has throughout the novel define him as a person, and also help the readers understand both their characters.

            The narrator is quite different than the other characters in the novel. He is the only character that believes the journey is better than the destination. This still provides a conflict for him, because he does not want to reach the destination fully. He is somewhat scared of what he will find and what will happen on the journey, although he still thinks it is the best aspect of a journey. This occurs both metaphorically, as well as physically, on his motorcycle journey across the country with his son and the couple.