The Big Sur Scenery
Given the title of the novel, Kerouac devotes considerable attention to the landscape of Big Sur, California. He vividly portrays the trees, the cliffs, the smells and the sounds. To do so, he references other poets such as Edmund Spenser. With steep cliffs and strong surf, the area is both inhospitable but incredibly beautiful. Given his increasingly hectic lifestyle, the coast of Big Sur afforded Kerouac the opportunity to escape the big city's, and partying, of San Francisco and retreat to tranquility.
Canyon Road
To arrive at the cabin at Big Sur, Kerouac is forced to walk along a canyon cliffside in the dark. It is a dangerous trek, and Kerouac grows frightened. While he walks he listens to the crash of the sea below and tries to light his path with a small lantern. Though he makes it down the embankment, he portrays the journey as he'd "just popped thru from hell into familiar old Heaven on Earth." When he sees the road in the daylight, he is astonished to realize that it's "up there on the wall a thousand feet with a sheer drop sometimes." The dangerous nature of this arrival stands as a symbol of the tough transition Kerouac faces between fast city living, and the serene retreat into nature.
Alcoholism
Eventually succumbing to alcoholism-related liver trauma, Kerouac was candid about his drinking problems, as indicated throughout Big Sur. In some sense, Kerouac retreated to Big Sur in an attempt to quit drinking, though this proved impossible. As friends come to visit him at the cabin, thy bring alcohol and he drinks heavily. The following morning he writes, "I begin to feel extremely low as soon as last night's alcohol wears off." When he returns to the cabin for a second time, wine becomes a staple of his stay. He suggests that his increasing consumption makes the landscape look more foreboding and bleak. In this sense, the harsh coastline of Big Sur is compared to Kerouac's drinking problems.
The Cabin
While at Big Sur, Duluoz (Kerouac's stand-in) stays at the cabin of Lorenzo Monsanto (a stand-in for Lawrence Ferlinghetti). Kerouac describes the secluded cabin fondly, with its "warm glow of woodstove and kerosene lamp." Kerouac seems fascinated by the way the light shines throughout the cabin, and mentions it often. He also questions as to why anyone would build a cabin overlooking a coastline as tumultuous and rough as Big Sur. While he is fond of the cabin and it's surroundings, he is often plagued by the loneliness he experiences at Big Sur.
Mist
The presence of mist appears throughout the novel. It is portrayed as a duality; being both a dark shroud, or a beautiful illuminator. Notice, for example, the difference between the lines, "the fog illumined August moon mist among other heights gorgeous and misty" and "humid mists rise coldly like the breath of death." In this sense, Kerouac's impression of the landscape and environment is both filtered, and represented, through the presence of mist.
