"For weeks I had studied maps, large-scale and small, but maps are not reality at all--they can be tyrants. I know people who are so immersed in road maps that they never see the countryside they pass through, and others who, having traced a route, are held to it as though held by flanges wheels to rails." (pg. 780/pg. 20 in course packet)
This moment in particular sticks out to me because it makes a valid point. When on the road, one can easily fall into the habit of relying on a map so much that the trip itself cannot even be enjoyed. While looking at a map throughout a journey can be useful, the map must never become the main focus of the trip. The open road presents quite a large amount of sights to see, but these these things will never be seen or appreciated if a map is obstructing a traveler's vision.
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I liked this particular scene in the reading because I feel that it gave a very relate able experience of following a map as both a guide that connects you with the security of the life the author is leaving, but at the same time hindering the experiences, blinding the user from reality. To me this moment characterizes one of the author's main points in any journey--to have experiences, to escape, and to embrace something they can’t find where they are in the present. Steinbeck personifies trips, journeys, etc by noting they have "personalities, temperament, individuality, and uniqueness" (pg 767/ 13). From here we as an audience can see his argument for what a road trip means to the author and some of the parallels between him and Sal from "On the Road," such as their dislike for "professional men" and the monotony of a sedentary lifestyle. Overall, a road trip is more than a journey from point A to point B its something that can't be tamed by planning or a map, it has to be embraced and experienced, both the good and the bad to ultimately grasp the point of an escape.
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