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 sees the eternal beauty of nature in the trail leading up to Mount Matterhorn. He and Japhy glance back down the road, looking for Henry, and see a dust cloud that may or may not be him. Ray feels like he might have hiked this path in a past life—it seems so familiar. He starts to feel dizzy and tired from the altitude, and he and Japhy fall silent as they walk. Japhy remarks that he feels like they’re communicating telepathically.
Ray connects the mountains’ beauty to Buddhist teachings about the nature of the universe. Specifically, he thinks of past lives when he notices the beauty of nature, because this beauty is eternal and unchanging. This is an important Buddhist teaching, which Ray is now able to perceive firsthand. Because nature’s beauty is eternal, seeing it is a way to share an experience with other people in the past and future. This is also probably why Japhy and Ray feel like they can communicate without talking: they’re sharing an experience of profound beauty that feels universal yet private, because nobody else is around.
Themes
Ray and Japhy clear the top of a hill, and the trail ends: they only see a meadow, a pond, and a field of boulders ahead. Japhy points out “ducks,” small piles of rocks that other climbers have put up to signal the best path. Past the end of the boulders, Japhy tells Ray that before getting to the summit, they still have to reach a plateau; a section of “scree” (loose rocks); another bunch of boulders; and an almost vertical final section.
Japhy’s seemingly comprehensive knowledge of the trail again illustrates his expertise in nature and shows what Ray stands to learn by following in his footsteps. Even though Ray and Japhy are all alone, the “ducks” show them that other people have made the climb before and indirectly reminds them that they are part of a broader community of mountaineers who understand the value of spending time in the wilderness.
Themes
Ray says that they should make camp right where they are, in the meadow, but Japhy insists on getting to the plateau, where it’s less likely that anyone else will show up. They briefly rest and then start making their way up the boulders, jumping from one to the next for miles. Ray admires how gracefully Japhy moves, and Japhy tells Ray that climbing is just like Zen Buddhism: it should be automatic and subconscious. They make their way up, slowly exhausting themselves in the late afternoon.
When they climb the boulders, Japhy this to Buddhism through the idea that putting a philosophy into a practice means turning it into a bodily habit. In order to truly be enlightened, he says, people must learn to live in a constant state of peaceful grace—and this includes the way they move. Beyond explicitly showing how mountaineering can help people like Ray improve themselves as Buddhists, this also shows how Japhy is primarily interested in knowledge as it pertains to people’s practical ability to act in the world.
Themes
Eventually, Japhy drops his backpack and says that he’ll cover the last short section alone to scout for their campsite. Ray rests, and Japhy returns a half-hour later to lead him up. They pass through a snow-filled meadow and a little creek before reaching their campsite, under an enormous concave rock. Japhy shows Ray the direction to Matterhorn, which is still a few miles away.
When Japhy ascends to the campsite and then returns for Ray, this is a metaphor for the way Ray perceives their relationship in general. Namely, although Japhy has progressed a few steps ahead of Ray, in terms of his understanding of Buddhism and his experience in the wilderness, he returns to help Ray find his way and advance along the path—both literally toward the campsite and figuratively toward enlightenment.
Themes
Get the entire The Dharma Bums LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ray and Japhy they set up camp and chat about the silence and beauty of the mountains, which Japhy says are like patient, meditating Buddhas. They make tea and debate where the giant rock they’re sleeping under could have come from. Japhy tells Ray that he loves to come out and spend weeks in this spot, wandering around naked and enjoying himself. And Ray tells Japhy about a special prayer he says for his friends, enemies, and relatives alike. He says the person’s name, then “equally empty, equally to be loved, equally a coming Buddha,” while thinking of the person’s eyes. Japhy writes this down in his notebook and says that he’ll show it to monks when he makes it to Japan. He says that Ray’s only fault is that he doesn’t spend enough time in nature, and then he starts making dinner out of his bulgur wheat and dried vegetables.
By comparing the mountains to Buddhas, Japhy extends the connection he’s drawn between spending time in nature and Buddhist practices like meditation. Namely, the mountains are ancient, unchanging, and breathtaking—just like the state of wisdom and enlightenment that Buddhists hope to achieve through meditation. Ray’s prayers also reflect important Buddhist values. For instance, emptiness is an important concept with multiple meanings, including the idea that nothing has any permanent essence and there is no true self. Similarly, Buddhists hope to be “a coming Buddha,” or to be able to reach enlightenment in the future. By sharing this prayer, Ray shows that he wants his relationship with Japhy to be a mutual exchange (even if Japhy is more knowledgeable about Buddhism).
Themes
Ray and Japhy have seen no sign whatsoever of Henry Morley, and they start to worry that he might have gotten lost or injured. They wander around for awhile, but it gets dark. Then, they hear Henry yodeling in the distance, somewhere near the beginning of the boulders. They decide to sit on a cliff above the valley and wait.
Even though Ray and Japhy don’t particularly like Henry—and even though Henry essentially abandoned them earlier on the trail—they’re still worry about his well-being and try to accommodate him. Just like Ray prays even for his enemies, because of their Buddhist beliefs, Ray and Japhy strive to love everyone—even people who don’t love them back.
Themes
Japhy prays with prayer beads and Ray meditates on the valley’s silence and their utter solitude there. Henry yodels at them from time to time, but he doesn't seem to be getting any closer. Meanwhile, as Ray observes the stunning sunset, he realizes that “rocks are space […] and space is illusion.” He contemplates Japhy’s brilliance and compares him to a saint, then remembers that people are “born just to die.” He nearly says all this to Japhy but decides to preserve the moment’s holy silence instead. Henry yodels again in the distance, and Ray and Japhy figure he’ll have to set up his own camp further down the mountain, which he does.
The mountains’ otherworldly silence and incredible beauty make them an especially apt place for meditation. In fact, the spectacular setting directly leads Ray to truly understand the Buddhist teaching that “space is illusion” by directly perceiving that “rocks are space.” Ray feels himself getting closer to enlightenment, and this realization proves to him that Japhy is right about the spiritual powers of nature.
Themes
