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
Ray and Japhy return up the trail from Stinson Beach into the hills, where they can see San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge. Then, they pass back through the redwood forest. The trail is uncomfortably steep; Ray feels miserable and desperately wants a Hershey chocolate bar. When they make it back to the shack, Ray’s feet hurt so badly that he swears off of hiking. Japhy goes down to the supermarket for food and returns with Hershey bars and port wine for Ray, and then he enthusiastically cooks dinner while Ray lays on the ground. He’s devastated that Japhy is leaving for Japan in the morning. Ray asks which of them will die first, and over dinner, they marvel at how they can uncover the same wisdom and see the same stars as the first Buddhists, thousands of years ago.
Just like on Mount Matterhorn, the physical stress of hiking serves to test Ray and Japhy’s character and willpower. Japhy has more stamina—and perhaps more inner fortitude—which is why’s able to remain joyful even when they’re both exhausted. As Japhy is about to leave, this affirms one last time that Japhy is Ray’s rightful mentor because he’s stronger and wiser. With Japhy set to leave, Ray assesses their friendship and fully realizes how much he’s grown through it. When they talk about seeing the same stars and learning the same wisdom as past Buddhists, they’re also implicitly talking about how they’ll be able to see the same stars and share the same wisdom when Japhy is in Japan.
Themes
Later, Sean and Christine visit to say goodbye to Japhy, and Ray compares Japhy to the Gautama Buddha leaving his palace to find enlightenment in the forest. The next day, as a going-away present, Ray gives Japhy a piece of paper that says: “MAY YOU USE THE DIAMONDCUTTER OF MERCY.” The last person to see Japhy is Psyche, who finally agrees to have sex with him—but only in the ship cabin right before he leaves. She says that she wants to stay and follow him to Japan, but Japhy literally throws her off the boat onto the pier, where Sean catches her. Ray admits that this wasn’t merciful, but he considers it necessary. Everyone cries, and Warren Coughlin predicts that Japhy will stay in Asia forever.
Ray, Sean, and Christine send Japhy off like a hero, making their high hopes clear: they view his trip to Japan as the next step in his path toward enlightenment. When Ray writes to Japhy that mercy is like a “diamondcutter,” he’s essentially saying that mercy is extremely powerful because it breaks down conflicts through goodwill. Meanwhile, Japhy’s last meeting with Psyche mostly serves as a comic interlude—but it also again shows how he views the women in his life mostly as a source of sex and entertainment, rather than taking them or their feelings seriously. Ray finally starts to see this, but he stops short of recognizing its implications: he and Japhy can’t truly preach wisdom, mercy, and love for all living beings if they don’t respect women.
Themes
