"I left with my canvas bag in which a few fundamental things were packed and took off for the Pacific Ocean with fifty dollars in my pocket."

This shows the reader the philosophy of freedom, that Sal Paradise has the opportunity to explore the continent with a mere fifty dollars and canvas bag. Kerouac here explains the American Dream, as one of liberty. Kerouac is saying that in America you can have nothing and still make it, presenting America as a place where anything is possible. `Dream' takes on a fundamental meaning in the novel. The idea that Americans are given the freedom to dream, and have dreams turned to reality.

"Filled with dreams of what I'd do in Chicago, in Denver, and then finally in San Fran."

Here we are shown an...