TRAMPING: ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL AMERICAN RITES OF PASSAGE by Anthony Vince

160 Pages·2013·2.25 MB·English

TRAMPING:
 ALTERNATIVES
 TO
 TRADITIONAL
 AMERICAN
 RITES
 OF

PASSAGE

by

Anthony
 Vincent
 Saturno

A
 Thesis
 Submitted
 to
 the
 Faculty
 of

Dorothy
 F.
 Schmidt
 College
 of
 Arts
 and
 Letters

in
 Partial
 Fulfillment
 of
 the
 Requirements
 for
 the
 Degree
 of

Master
 of
 Arts

Florida
 Atlantic
 University

Boca
 Raton,
 FL

December
 2013
TRAMPING: ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL AMERICAN RITES OF PASSAGE
by
Anthony Vincent Saturno
This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr.
Susan Love Brown, Department of Anthropology, and has been approved by the
members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial
fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master ofArts.
SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:
d "
~/
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---
Michael Harris, Ph.D.
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Heather Coltman, DMA
I 1 Dean, College of and Letters
~-
ii
ABSTRACT

Author:

  Anthony
 Saturno

Title:
  Tramping:
 Alternatives
 to
 Traditional
 American
 Rites
 of

Passage

Institution:

  Florida
 Atlantic
 University

Thesis
 Advisor:
  Dr.
 Susan
 Love
 Brown

Degree:

  Master
 of
 Arts

Year:

  2013

  In
 America
 today,
 adolescent
 boys
 do
 not
 have
 a
 structured,
 ritualized
 or

guided
 passage
 from
 boyhood
 into
 manhood.
 Many
 young
 men
 feel
 unsure
 of
 their

manhood
 even
 at
 an
 age
 that
 signifies
 the
 transition.
 This
 causes
 young
 males
 to

need
 a
 self-­‐created
 rite
 of
 passage.
 Tramping,
 the
 act
 of
 travelling
 by
 train,

hitchhiking
 or
 foot,
 is
 one
 way
 in
 which
 young
 males
 can
 independently
 achieve

manhood.
 This
 is
 a
 literary
 account
 of
 the
 lives
 of
 Jack
 Kerouac,
 Chris
 McCandless,

and
 Zebu
 Recchia.
 Their
 personal
 stories
 allow
 a
 detailed
 view
 of
 the
 advantages

and
 disadvantages
 found
 in
 a
 self-­‐created
 rite
 of
 passage.
 While
 two
 of
 the
 accounts

are
 successful,
 in
 Chris
 McCandless’s
 case
 the
 rite
 ends
 in
 a
 transition
 to
 death.

Tramping
 as
 a
 rite
 of
 passage
 to
 adulthood
 seems
 effective
 but
 the
 danger
 in
 self-­‐
creation
 appears
 to
 be
 the
 lack
 of
 guidance
 that
 comes
 in
 unstructured
 rites
 of

passage.

  iii
TRAMPING:
 ALTERNATIVES
 TO
 TRADITIONAL
 AMERICAN
 RITES
 OF
 PASSAGE

Statement
 of
 the
 Problem………………………………………...…………………………………………...1

Rites
 of
 Passage
 and
 the
 American
 Male……………………………………………..…………………8

  Separation………………………………………………………………………………………………10

  Liminality………………………………………………………………………………………………..11

  Reaggregation…………………………………………………………………………………………16

  Rites
 of
 Passage
 for
 Adolescences
 in
 America…………………………………………...17

  Tramping
 as
 an
 American
 Alternative
 Rite
 of
 Passage……………………………….22

On
 the
 Road:
 Jack
 Kerouac
 as
 Sal
 Paradise…………………….…………………………………….30

  Separation………………………………………………………………………………………………37

  Liminality………………………………………………………………………………………………..39

  Reaggregation…………………………………………………………………………………………54

Chris
 McCandless:
 A
 Transition
 from
 Adolescence
 to
 Death……………...………………….58

  Separation………………………………………………………………………………………………65

  Liminality………………………………………………………………………………………………..66

  Reaggregation…………………………………………………………………………………………95

Zebu
 Recchia:
 As
 Eddy
 Joe
 Cotton
 Riding
 the
 Rails……….……………………………………...97

  Separation………………………………………………………………………………………….…100

  Liminality……………………………………………………………………………………………...104

  Reaggregation……………………………………………………………………………………….117

  iv
Three
 Rites
 of
 Passage,
 Three
 Liminalities………………………………………………………...123

Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………………………130

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………….149

  v
CHAPTER
 ONE

STATEMENT
 OF
 THE
 PROBLEM

  A
 rite
 of
 passage
 is
 the
 completion
 of
 a
 journey
 from
 one
 life
 point
 to
 the
 next.

Rites
 of
 passage
 typically
 mark
 events
 such
 as
 birth,
 adulthood,
 marriage,
 giving

birth
 and
 death,
 but
 are
 not
 limited
 to
 these
 events.
 They
 are
 “a
 category
 of
 rituals

that
 mark
 the
 passages
 of
 an
 individual
 through
 the
 life
 cycle,
 from
 one
 stage
 to

another
 over
 time,
 from
 one
 role
 or
 social
 position
 to
 another
 integrating
 the
 human

and
 cultural
 experiences
 with
 biological
 destiny”
 (Myerhoff
 1982:
 103).
 They
 are

typically
 well
 marked
 and
 structured
 and
 deeply
 symbolic
 in
 ceremony
 and
 ritual.

Rites
 of
 passage
 tend
 to
 be
 more
 celebrated,
 marked
 and
 structured
 in
 areas
 that

have
 not
 reached
 high
 levels
 of
 modernization
 but
 still
 occur
 and
 are
 necessary
 in
 all

communities.

 “There
 is
 every
 reason
 to
 believe
 that
 rites
 of
 passage
 are
 as

important
 now
 as
 they
 have
 always
 been
 for
 our
 social
 and
 psychological
 well-­‐being.

Indeed
 given
 the
 fragmented,
 confusing,
 complex,
 and
 disorderly
 nature
 of
 modern

experience
 perhaps
 they
 are
 more
 important
 to
 orient
 and
 motivate
 us
 in
 the

predictable
 and
 unique
 life
 crises
 that
 present
 themselves”
 (Myerhoff
 1982:
 129).

 In

America
 for
 boys
 trying
 to
 reach
 manhood,
 rites
 of
 passage
 become
 self-­‐created
 and

tramping
 becomes
 one
 such
 pathway
 taken
 to
 achieve
 this
 goal.

This
 study
 will
 review
 literary
 accounts
 of
 three
 tramps
 from
 separation,
 into

the
 liminal
 stage
 and
 the
 possibility
 of
 reaggregation
 in
 the
 end.
 Jack
 Kerouac
 wrote

  1
On
 the
 Road
 (1988)
 about
 a
 fictional
 character
 named
 Sal
 Paradise
 and
 his

best
 friend
 Dead
 Moriarty.
 Although
 this
 book
 is
 found
 under
 the
 fiction
 genre
 it
 is

actually
 a
 true
 account
 of
 part
 of
 Kerouac’s
 time
 hitchhiking
 across
 the
 country.
 Jon

Krakauer
 wrote
 Into
 the
 Wild
 (1996),
 which
 was
 a
 journalistic
 account
 of
 the
 life
 of

Chris
 “Alex
 Supertramp”
 McCandless
 and
 his
 time
 hitchhiking
 and
 rail
 riding
 across

the
 country
 leading
 to
 his
 tragic
 death
 in
 Alaska.
 Finally,
 Zebu
 “Eddy
 Joe
 Cotton”

Recchia
 wrote
 Hobo:
 A
 Young
 Man’s
 Thoughts
 on
 Trains
 and
 Tramping
 in
 the
 United

States
 (2002)
 an
 autobiographical
 account
 of
 some
 of
 his
 travels
 as
 a
 tramp.

These
 three
 accounts
 were
 chosen
 over
 numerous
 other
 accounts
 available

because
 they
 are
 all
 factual
 accounts
 of
 American
 adolescents
 who
 traverse
 in
 very

different
 yet
 incredibly
 similar
 ways
 through
 the
 liminal
 stage
 on
 to
 another
 life

marker.
 The
 three
 young
 men
 come
 from
 very
 different
 backgrounds
 and
 have

different
 motivating
 factors
 and
 very
 different
 experiences,
 yet
 the
 undertones
 to
 all

three
 stories
 have
 a
 lot
 of
 similarities.
 These
 similarities
 are
 what
 link
 the
 three
 men

in
 the
 commonality
 of
 being
 in
 the
 liminal
 stage.

The
 stories
 told
 in
 these
 three
 accounts
 show
 the
 separation
 and

reaggregation
 of
 the
 tramps,
 either
 reaggregation
 back
 into
 the
 community
 or,
 in

Christopher
 McCandless’s
 case,
 reaggregation
 into
 another
 rite
 of
 passage:
 death.

The
 most
 important
 feature
 of
 these
 stories
 is
 an
 in-­‐depth
 look
 at
 how
 liminality

works
 and
 the
 parallels
 tramping
 draws
 on
 our
 overall
 knowledge
 of
 the
 liminal

stage.
 This
 thesis’s
 purpose
 is
 to
 show
 the
 impact
 of
 liminality
 and
 the
 features
 of

the
 liminal
 world.

  2
“Rites
 of
 passage
 are
 found
 in
 all
 societies,
 but
 tend
 to
 reach
 their
 maximal

expression
 in
 small-­‐scale
 relatively
 stable
 and
 cyclical
 societies,
 where
 change
 is

bound
 up
 with
 biological
 and
 meteorological
 rhythms
 and
 recurrences
 rather
 than

with
 technological
 innovations”
 (Turner
 1967:
 93).
 “They
 thrive
 in
 small
 scale

societies
 and
 decay
 or
 die
 in
 large
 scale
 ones”
 (Grimes
 1995:
 11).
 When
 rites
 of

passage
 become
 “unstructured”
 as
 happens
 in
 many
 modernized
 societies
 it

becomes
 more
 difficult
 for
 initiates
 to
 go
 through
 certain
 rites
 of
 passage
 and
 the

length
 of
 time
 one
 spends
 within
 the
 rite
 tends
 to
 become
 prolonged.
 Within
 a
 rite
 of

passage,
 Arnold
 Van
 Gennep
 (1960)
 defines
 three
 distinct
 points:
 separation,

liminality
 and
 reaggregation
 in
 which
 any
 neophyte
 must
 pass
 to
 completion
 in

order
 to
 ascend
 to
 the
 next
 life
 marker.
 Victor
 Turner
 (1969)
 goes
 on
 to
 really
 detail

and
 completely
 define
 the
 liminal
 stage
 and
 its
 importance
 to
 any
 rite
 of
 passage.

“Adolescence
 is
 a
 journey,
 a
 search
 for
 self
 in
 every
 dimension
 of
 being.
 It
 is
 a

bout
 dreams,
 fears,
 and
 hopes
 as
 much
 as
 it
 is
 about
 hormones,
 SAT
 scores
 and

fashion”
 (Hersch
 1999:
 17).
 The
 rite
 of
 passage
 known
 as
 initiation,
 the
 time

between
 adolescence
 and
 adulthood
 where
 a
 child
 becomes
 a
 functioning
 member

of
 the
 community,
 is
 considered
 to
 be
 one
 of
 the
 most
 perilous
 rites
 that
 a
 person

will
 go
 through
 in
 their
 life.
 For
 adolescent
 boys
 it
 is
 a
 time
 where
 they
 are
 guided

by
 the
 men
 of
 their
 community
 and
 shown
 what
 it
 takes
 to
 carry
 out
 the
 tasks
 that

men
 are
 required
 to
 do.

Entry
 into
 adult
 life
 involves
 the
 realization
 of
 social
 obligations
 and

the
 assumption
 of
 responsibility
 for
 meeting
 them.
 What
 initiation

  3
does
 is
 to
 set
 a
 time
 on
 the
 way
 to
 manhood
 and
 by
 bringing
 the

person
 into
 formal
 and
 explicit
 relation
 with
 his
 kindred,
 confronts

him
 with
 some
 of
 his
 basic
 social
 ties,
 reaffirms
 them
 and
 thus
 makes

potent
 to
 him
 his
 strains
 against
 the
 days
 when
 he
 will
 have
 to
 adopt

them
 in
 earnest.
 [Raphael
 1988:
 197]

In
 modernized
 societies
 this
 guidance
 is
 largely
 absent
 and
 it
 becomes
 unclear
 what

it
 takes
 to
 be
 a
 man
 and
 when
 the
 transition
 to
 manhood
 occurs.
 Left
 unguided
 the

adolescent
 boy
 who
 is
 attempting
 to
 become
 a
 man
 must
 create
 or
 attempt
 to
 create

one's
 own
 rite
 of
 passage.
 This
 tends
 to
 prolong
 the
 amount
 of
 time
 before
 an

adolescent
 enters
 the
 liminal
 stage
 and
 also
 delays
 reaggregation
 and
 can
 make
 the

entire
 rite
 of
 passage
 more
 dangerous.

In
 the
 United
 States
 there
 is
 a
 high
 value
 on
 individualism
 and
 personal

freedom.
 These
 are
 attributes
 that
 make
 the
 country
 what
 it
 is,
 it
 is
 part
 of
 its

national
 character.
 These
 attributes,
 however,
 also
 undermine
 the
 community-­‐based

power
 of
 rites
 of
 passage.
 Placing
 all
 of
 the
 responsibility
 on
 the
 individual
 will
 leave

them
 unguided
 making
 the
 passage
 more
 dangerous
 and
 time
 consuming.
 “In

today’s
 society
 we
 seem
 unable
 to
 accept
 the
 fact
 of
 adolescence,
 that
 there
 are

young
 people
 in
 transition
 from
 childhood
 to
 adulthood
 who
 need
 adult
 guidance

and
 direction”
 (Elkind
 1984:
 4).

In
 the
 United
 States
 today,
 adolescent
 boys
 do
 not
 begin
 their
 transition
 to

adulthood
 quickly.
 “There
 is
 a
 deep
 seated
 fear
 that
 we
 might
 not
 ever
 become
 men”

and
 that
 fear
 tends
 to
 be
 self
 actualized
 in
 a
 delay
 in
 the
 rite
 of
 passage
 of
 initiation

  4
(Raphael
 1988:
 145).
 They
 tend
 to
 stay
 at
 home
 longer
 or
 move
 on
 to
 college
 which

will
 delay
 the
 time
 it
 will
 take
 them
 to
 start
 a
 career
 and
 a
 family,
 which
 are
 aspects

of
 becoming
 a
 functioning
 member
 of
 the
 American
 community.
 The
 adolescent
 boy

can
 easily
 become
 confused
 from
 the
 array
 of
 possible
 markers
 for
 adulthood.

 “The

age
 that
 represented
 adulthood
 became
 grayer
 and
 grayer
 as
 being
 able
 to
 drive,

join
 the
 army
 and
 drink
 became
 further
 apart”
 (Staller
 2006:
 18).
 There
 are
 still

some
 guided
 pathways
 from
 adolescence
 to
 adulthood
 mostly
 for
 those
 members
 of

society
 that
 are
 involved
 in
 some
 form
 of
 religion.
 The
 Bar
 Mitzvah
 and

Confirmation
 are
 two
 such
 pathways.
 However,
 for
 members
 of
 the
 community
 who

are
 not
 religious
 or
 are
 not
 deeply
 religious,
 these
 pathways
 may
 be
 closed
 or
 may

not
 bestow
 definitive
 assurance
 of
 adulthood.
 They
 tend
 to
 give
 the
 initiate

instruction
 and
 guidance
 for
 how
 to
 be
 an
 adult
 within
 the
 religious
 community
 but

they
 do
 not
 give
 instruction
 or
 guidance
 of
 what
 it
 truly
 means
 to
 be
 a
 man
 in

America
 today.

“The
 transitional
 stage
 between
 boyhood
 and
 adulthood
 while
 occurring
 in

such
 a
 competitive
 and
 superficial
 context,
 becomes
 filled
 with
 uncertainties
 and

ambiguities.
 Some
 young
 males
 find
 ways
 to
 manage
 the
 transition
 successfully,

while
 others
 try
 but
 do
 not
 succeed.
 Still
 others
 never
 ever
 try
 at
 all,
 or
 perhaps
 they

attempt
 to
 alter
 the
 very
 concept
 of
 manhood
 itself”
 (Raphael
 1988:
 190).
 Without

any
 definitive
 rite
 to
 turn
 to
 and
 without
 a
 guide
 to
 help
 them
 many
 adolescent
 boys

develop
 their
 own
 rites
 of
 passage
 to
 come
 into
 adulthood.
 They
 usually
 involve

survival
 and
 a
 degree
 of
 peril
 or
 danger.
 They
 tend
 to
 involve
 finding
 freedom,

usually
 from
 the
 shadow
 of
 their
 father
 or
 both
 parents.
 The
 departure
 is
 usually

  5