Jack Kerouac, Visions of Gerard

R. J. Ellis (University of Birmingham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1963

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Visions of Gerard is a representation of the illness and death of a young boy, Gerard, in 1920s Lowell, viewed through the eyes of his younger brother, Ti Jean. Ti Jean narrates his memories as an adult, looking back from the 1950s. Ti Jean emphasizes the saintliness of Gerard, made manifest in a vision Gerard has at school of his ascension to heaven, just before his terminal decline sets in. Gerard also has a rapport with animals and birds, berating his cat over the killing of a mouse and attracting a flock of birds to his bedroom window when a bed-ridden invalid. This reputation for beatitude leads the nuns who taught him at school to be present at his death-bed and record his final words. His saintliness is underlined when,…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

660 words

Citation: Ellis, R. J.. "Visions of Gerard". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8635, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Save this article