Bikers on Route 66
The road in America is a significant
part of their history. We were able to experience a part of Route 66 which
enabled us to see that it is more of a tourist road and many Americans don’t
use this as there is a more convenient highway put in place. Route 66 is the epitome
of travellers; it has been used for years by people migrating to the West in
search of jobs and a better lifestyle. The road is a symbol for America and as
Krim suggests “became embedded in the landscape… a historic memory that is
worthy of national preservation”.7 However the road itself is not in
the greatest condition, it should be preserved but it is not being looked after
by the state. John Steinbeck contemplated this road as a symbol of America as
it “is the mother road, the road of flight”.8 people who travelled
this road were escaping the East in order to look for a new prosperous area to
live.
7 Arthur
Krim, Route 66: Auto River of the
American West, Geographical Snapshots of North America (Donald G. Janelle,
1992) 32.
8 John
Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, New
York: Viking Press (1939) 126.
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