Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dharma Bums, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Enlightenment and Nature
Counterculture and Freedom
Friendship
Literature and Authenticity
Inclusion, Exclusion, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Sean plans to throw Japhy a huge party before he sails off to Japan. Tired of partying, Ray and Japhy decide that they’ll go for a long walk afterward. In the meantime, Japhy’s sister Rhoda and her fiancé show up to personally invite Japhy to their wedding. Japhy and Rhoda’s banter makes Rhoda’s fiancé uncomfortable, and after they leave, Japhy predicts that they won’t last—Rhoda is too much of a free spirit. Strangely, Japhy thinks that Rhoda should marry him instead, even though they’re brother and sister.
Ray and Japhy’s itch to get back to the wilderness shows that they continue to see worldly pleasures like partying as less important than spiritual pursuits like meditating in nature. Even though they think a certain amount of partying is compatible with living a true Buddhist life, they don’t think it’s actually the fulfilling part of such a lifestyle. It’s unclear whether Japhy is joking when he makes the bizarre claim that his sister should marry him. Regardless, it again shows that Japhy generally views women primarily as possible sexual or romantic partners. It also suggests that, despite all the Buddhist teachings about humility, he has a rather high opinion of himself.
Themes
Ray complains that, unlike all his friends, he has no luck with women. But while he often yearns for sex, he also remembers that lust is sinful. In fact, he has written a poem about the saints, and he considers himself a “crazy saint” because he believes in living a solitary life in the wilderness—but it’s hard to do this when there are constantly parties to attend and women to chase. Ray blames his friends for his failures with women. For instance, one day, Sean and the bum Joe Mahoney purposefully interrupt Ray while he’s with a girl, ruining his night—or maybe saving him from temptation.
Ray’s contradictory feelings about sex reflect how, on the one hand, he sees sex as a worldly distraction from his spiritual goals. But on the other hand, he feels desire, wants to consummate it, and admires people (like Japhy) who have a lot of sex. He struggles both to let himself desire sex and to explain why he doesn’t have any. When Ray calls himself a “crazy saint,” he’s suggesting that his Buddhism is not only about finding peace and happiness individually—it’s also about making a difference in the world and leaving a lasting impression. Nevertheless, if his saintly life involves living alone in the forest, how can he reach other people? The obvious answer is that he’ll do so through his writing.
Themes
Whenever Ray is inebriated at parties, he closes his eyes and has holy visions. His friends celebrate them, but Sean’s young daughters find them scary. Meanwhile, Japhy cooks confusing yet delicious dinners of Chinese herbs and roots with boiled rice. After dinner, Japhy tends to read while Ray meditates outside, listening to the animals. Once, Ray keeps so still that mosquitos land on him and then fly away without biting him.
Like his wavering about sex, Ray’s drunk meditation at parties reflects his struggle to reconcile spiritual and material pursuits (or religion and pleasure). While in nature he can easily meditate without drinking, around other people, he seemingly needs to drink to heighten his senses.
Themes
