Searching for Freedom
"Typically one passes through the landscape, as a means, toward destination; but in Easy Rider movement through the landscape becomes an end in itself..." (Laderman 71). Billy and Wyatt search for freedom while on their way from Los Angeles to New Orleans. But what happens is that we realize that their road to freedom is really a road to the end. On their way to Mardi Gras, Wyatt and Billy take a few detours, first at the ranch to fix Wyatt's tire, then at the commune, they are put in jail, and then their final stop is at the brothel in New Orleans. In these scenes, Billy and Wyatt face discrimination because of their search for freedom. They are shunned from the motel, and they are put in jail because they are so "free." They are punished because they are not what white males are "supposed" be.
In the end Wyatt gives his infamous speech of "we blew it." I took it to mean that they were not able to find their freedom because wherever they went, there were means to tie them down, whether it was women, or discrimination from the norm.