Dean Moriarty was the Real - Life model for the character Jack Kerouac in Neal Cassady 's novel `` On The Road '' . Dean Moriarty was the real-life model for the character Jack Kerouac in Neal Cassady 's novel `` On The Road '' . Neal Cassady was the real-life model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac 's novel `` On The Road '' .