At first glance, the novel On The Road and the film "The
             Wall" by Pink Floyd seem to have very little in common. The
             novel is a story about two young men, Sal and Dean, who travel
             the country in search of good times. The film is about a man,
             Pink, trapped in his life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Upon
             closer inspection though, one can see that there are many common
             underlying themes. I will attempt to uncover and explain these
             themes in the context of this paper.
             I will examine these four themes: life is a battle, "Claw
             your way through this disguise", freedom and just another brick
             I will begin by discussing the first theme: Life Is A
             Battle. Dean's whole life has been a battle. He has never had a
             place to call home or someone to depend on and take care of him.
             His father abandoned him and he spent his life searching for him.
             Dean traveled on railroad cars across the country. He was
             emotionally unstable. It is debatable as to why. It could have
             been the heavy drug abuse or a chemical imbalance in his brain.
             Dean was married to many women, although he was never able to say
             with these women very long. The story of his life was love 'em
             The second theme comes from a quote in the song "In The
             Flesh" by Pink Floyd. "...if you'd like to find out what's
             behind these cold eyes you'll have to claw your way through this
             disguise". All through the novel, Dean tried to be "normal". He
             tried to settle down and marry and raise his multiple children.
             Each time though, he felt the itch and had to leave. Dean always
             had a suitcase with him, packed and ready to go...just sitting
             Pink was similar to Dean in some regards. He too was
             pretending to be someone that he was not. As an adult, Pink was
             a member of a successful music band. He lived a carefree
             ...