The Subterraneans

The Subterraneans is a novella written by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac in 1958. His third novel, it is a semi-fictional account of his short romance with Alene Lee, an African-American woman, in Greenwich Village, New York. Kerouac met Alene in the summer of 1953 when she was working as a typist for William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. In the novella, Kerouac moved the story to San Francisco and renamed Alene Lee Mardou Fox. She is described as a carefree spirit who frequents the jazz clubs and bars of the budding Beat scene of San Francisco. Other well-known personalities and friends from the author's life also appear in the enovel, such as the character of Frank Carmody, based on William S. Burroughs, and Adam Moorad, based on Allen Ginsberg.

The main character of the novel, Leo Percepied, is the narrator; he drives the stream-of-consciousness that makes up the bulk of the book. At the start of the novel, Leo has just arrived in San Francisco. He has left his last position working on a ship in hopes of pursuing his true passion, writing. Leo is part of a group of friends, most of whom are men, who refer to themselves as the subterraneans. Most of the members of the group are burgeoning writers and artists. Like Leo, they aspire to leave their day jobs behind and make a living from their art.

Upon his return to San Francisco, Leo is reacquainted with the subterraneans. They gather outside a bar, and Leo reveals that most of the group, including himself, have substance abuse issues involving drugs or alcohol. Therefore, the bar is a fitting meeting place for them as it is where they have forged many of their memories together. As Leo walks down a hill towards the bar, he notices the figure of a woman sitting on the fender of a car parked in front of the establishment. It is late at night, and the woman, Mardou Fox, is black and from a distance blends into the darkness.



After seeing Mardou, Leo is instantly enamored with her and feels that he must have her for himself. However, Mardou shows no signs of interest toward him. She is significantly younger than Leo, perhaps by about fifteen years. Persistent in his affection, Leo continues to pursue Mardou in the hopes of changing her mind. Eventually, she grows to find his persistence charming, and the two become involved romantically. As they grow closer, Leo’s friends warn him not to get involved with her. They have known her longer than he has and reveal to Leo that she has a history of mental illness and is under the care of a therapist. Her mental state is fragile. She is like a ticking time bomb in that no one can predict when she will flip and have a psychotic episode.

However, Mardou is not the only one with problems in this story, as Leo has his own demons to conquer. Leo is an alcoholic with a lengthy history of drug abuse. He has been married before but it didn’t work out, and although he is approaching middle age, he still lives at home with his domineering mother who supports him due to his lack of full-time employment. Leo keeps his relationship with Mardou low-profile because his mother would not approve of the bi-racial relationship. Leo's mother clearly has had a huge influence on his life, and he seems unable to break away from her. Even the unstable Mardou tells him that living with his mother is not healthy for him.

The relationship between Leo and Mardou is short-lived, beginning to deteriorate when he continues to demonstrate his reluctance to fully commit to their relationship. Mardou wants to settle down with Leo and build a real life together, but Leo seems to have very little interest in doing this. Through his stream-of-consciousness narrative, he admits that his relationship with Mardou is comparable to having a loyal dog that follows him everywhere. It makes him feel good, but he does not feel obliged to bend to her will or inconvenience himself in any way to include her in his life. As time passes, Mardou grows disillusioned, and her eye wanders toward a younger man in the group whom she finds more appealing, believing that he would be a man she could build a life with.



At the story's conclusion, Mardou appears the healthier of the two. She tells Leo she wants her independence and Leo is left with the uncertainty of whether Mardou was the love of his life and if he destroyed his one chance for happiness. Of course, it is only once Mardou is gone that Leo pines for her, demonstrating his inability to accept good things in his life.