Horace Greeley famously said, “Go West Young Man”, a comment on the American attitude of the time which referred to manifest destiny. Heading west has become a symbol of new beginnings. After hearing that Anne was romantically involved with his boss, Willie Talos, Jack fled to California. After all the bitterness and the lies that Jack was involved in he needed a fresh start. Throughout history people would journey westward bound. Pioneers seeked unclaimed land and during the Great Depression the “Oakies” headed west to start over after the dust bowl ruined their livelihoods in the south. Even Teddy Roosevelt had a period where he fled to the wild west and became a cattle rancher to reinvent himself after his third term ended and he felt haunted by tragic memories. Both he and Jack were running away from a problem and used the West to reinvent themselves. It is only fitting that these men fled in the direction where the sun sets for with the ending of the day, each man hoped to put their demons to rest. When Jack felt haunted by his past he hoped journeying south would put his life into perspective.
Throughout history the west has been the place of interest to anyone who would like to reinvent themselves, like Aria said. When the Pilgrims were finally fed up with Europe's ways they headed west, when times were rough in the mid-west or south many went west, when Teddy Roosevelt felt the need to reinvent himself, he went west. Jack, being a historian, only finds it natural to go west and to follow the path of the world's past time heroes. "So I fled West from the fact, and in the West, at the end of History, the Last Man on that Last Coast, on my hotel bed, I had discovered the dream"(433). Jack fled west where those go to "put their demons to rest" and wake up to a fresh start.
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