The search for identity in On The Road In "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac, the protagonists embark on a long and arduous search for human identity. Their goal is to discover who they really are, where they fit in the “scheme of things,” and what the meaning of life is. They articulate this desire by speaking, throughout the novel, about the search for “IT,” “IT” being human identity. This “IT” is an intangible thing; something that has a different meaning for each individual. It encompasses all the things humans long for: the answers of life, the meaning of the universe, happiness, enlightenment, self-realization, “beatification” (as articulated by Kerouac). "On the Road" is the story of a desperate search for "IT", in which the protagonists finally realize that "IT" is unattainable and that time cannot be defied. The human search for “IT” is never-ending. Even when we know that the search is virtually impossible, that 'IT' is unattainable, that we... middle of paper... premonitions and thoughts. The novel ends with the poignant truth that humans often try to ignore: that time and aging are inexorable, and that the answers to life will most likely never be known to any of us while we are on earth. Works Cited: Kerouac, Jack. On the road. Penguin Books Limited, New York. 1955.Honan, Simon. The Beat Generation, Allen and Unwin Publishing, New York. 1987.Eliot, T.S. The Collected Works of T.S. Eliot, Eldridge Publishing Inc, Sydney.1954.