Allen Ginsberg, "A Supermarket in California" Literary Analysis

Allen Ginsberg’s revolutionary poem, Howl, is a powerful portrayal of life degraded. It represents the harsh life of the beat generation and chronicles the struggles of the repressed. Howl is a poem of destruction. Destruction of mind, body, and soul through the oppression of the individual. Using powerful diction, Allen Ginsberg describes this abolition of life and its implications through our human understanding of abstractions like Time, Eternity, and self. The poem’s jumbled phrasing and drastic emotion seems to correspond with the minds of the people it describes. Ginsberg uses surprisingly precise and purposeful writing to weave the complex

uses the repetition of certain words to sound almost robotic-like. This repetition speaks very strongly to his intensely communist views on capitalism as a machine. The use of syntax is the poem also speaks very strongly to Ginsberg’s public abuse of drugs and alcohol. The entire piece reads in the same mixed up order as if the speaker was inebriated or suffering from some sort of mental illness, also a commentary on Ginsberg’s opinion of insanity as a form of genius.

It was a 1951 TIME cover story, which dubbed the Beats a ‘Silent Generation, ’ that led to Allen Ginsberg’s retort in his poem ‘America,’ in which he vocalises a frustration at this loss of self- importance. The fifties Beat Generation, notably through Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl as will here be discussed, fought to revitalise individuality and revolutionise their censored society which seemed to produce everything for the masses at the expense of the individual’s creative and intellectual potential. Indeed, as John Clellon Holmes once noted: “TIME magazine called them the Silent Generation, but this may have been because TIME was not

Allen Ginsberg in his work, “Howl” tries to present a social commentary and a revolution. Allen presents the struggle of the time when social pressures were quickly building up, and a revolution was necessary which would free people from all forms of oppression. Allen presents his experiences which is an encounter with his friend whom he met in a mental institution. Allen uses several literary techniques to present the insanities in life and how people continue to struggle with it in life which ends up in tragedies and cries.

With reference to Ginsberg's emulation of Walt Whitman's content, the Norton Anthology, Postmodern American Poetry, states that, "Ginsberg proposed a return to the immediacy, egalitarianism and visionary ambitions of Blake and Whitman." (130). His poem "America" caters toward themes of democracy, something Whitman's poetry also does. Yet unlike Whitman, Ginsberg takes a more questioning stance on America and does not use his poem to praise the nation.

Therefore, his objective was to get society to see through his eyes in the hopes that it would awaken their minds and spark a change. Ginsberg was critical in identifying all of the constraints placed on society and was outraged when those that chose not to conform were punished or expelled from the universities. This social culture was cause for his intense feelings of sadness yet hope for a brighter future. Ginsberg was passionate in promoting individuality and creativity and didn’t hesitate to oppose the way society and in particular universities, wanted people to think and behave. As a result, his passion inspired his tone of the poem to be critical, outraged and

Ginsberg reflects on the satire of people worshipping American culture when it is actually the cause of their trouble. Which glorifies a civilization restricting you to normality, and destroying the best minds. These parts take the reader behind Ginsberg’s belief of the “best minds” American culture changes across the fundamental desires to destroy them.

Century apart, Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman share similar cultural, political and moral values, which they express in their literary work. Whitman’s writing is considered controversial for the eighteen hundreds. He sets the stage for generations to come breaking way from the strict Victorian poetic tradition by writing in free verse. Ginsberg follows his footsteps when composing his poem “Howl” by writing in long lines almost resembling prose and subdividing the poem into several parts. Likewise, he uses numerous repetitions to achieve rhythmicity of his verse. Ginsberg’s poem is heavily influenced by Whitman’s philosophy. The works “Song of myself” and “Howl” are similar in ideas, structure and underling themes. The two authors protest against old traditions imposed on the individual by corrupt society, stand against conformity and put emphasis on the need for change. They identify with their generation and dwell on themes such as sexuality, religion and the state of American society.

Ginsberg does not spare the 'innocent' reader. When one analyzes the social power of Ginsberg's statements, one can come easily to the conclusion that society was not exactly welcoming to Ginsberg, and he reacted to that through his writing, especially in "Howl."

This poem is sometimes referred to as a violent “howl” of human anguish. It attacks the forces of conformity and mechanization that Ginsberg believed destroyed the best minds of his generation. This poem has no real structure or rational connection of ideas, and the rules of grammar are abandoned in order to pack imagery into one line. The poem points the way toward a new and better existence, chronicling the pilgrimage of the “mad generation” toward a reality that is timeless and placeless, holy and eternal.

Ginsberg starts this poem with the speaker declaring that he has given America everything and has not received anything in return. The first line signifies the speaker’s intimacy with America. One will only

Poet Allen Ginsberg composed "Howl" in 1955 and it was published by City Lights Books of San Francisco, CA the following year. He composed the poem in the middle of the 1950s, one of the greatest decades in history for mainstream America. It had been a decade since the American and Allied victory in the second world war. Numerous American men returned home to a country in much better shape than expected, with many women having entered the workforce to keep the economy and industry alive in their absence. The spoils of war were great and America saw a great era of prosperity and domestic, suburban bliss. More interstate highways were constructed. Many more cars were produced and bought. It was a classic era for mainstream American culture in the 1950s. Yet in the haze of the suburbs, expansion of television, growth of Hollywood, and cars, present here were the seeds of rebellion and counterculture that was more indicative of the following decade, 1960s. One such seed is the poem

His father, the famous poet, Louis Ginsberg was famed for having an original writing style that maintained verse and rhyme. In fact, he did not understand free verse and always complied with the boundaries of literature that Universities taught. The American Poet’s Society praised Louis for the fluidity of his poems and participation in the organization (Miles 35). The successes of Allen’s father had heavily influenced him to major in poetry when he reached college. Despite Louis’ popularity, The Ginsberg family was still struggling with heavy debts. The extremities of the debt reached the point where they had to take Naomi Ginsberg, Allen’s mother, out of hospital care where she was being treated for paranoid schizophrenia. Allen loved his mother unconditionally and stood by her side throughout her struggle to manage her illness. He often assumed the responsibility of taking care of her while his father was working on poetry to gather the money to give her the care she needed (Miles 9). During their struggle, Louis had fallen for another woman and had started to cheat on Allen’s mother (Miles 23). Allen’s hatred for his father’s actions lead him to becoming a part of his celebrated counterculture group, The Beat Generation. He had begun to center his poetry around the type of writing his father hated the most: free verse. Ginsberg went to be schooled in literature and advanced his venture in free

Allen Ginsberg was one of the founding fathers of what is considered the Beat Generation and the Beat Movement. Throughout his entire life he wrote multiple poems which voiced his certain opinions and thoughts about what America had been going through at the time. American poet, writer, and philosopher, Allen Ginsberg uses his life experiences and ideas on resistance, freedom, and the Beat Movement to express specific ideas within his poems.

It is evident from the very beginning that Ginsberg is disillusioned with American society, and he is ready to turn his back on what he feels has been oppressing him. "America I've given you all and now I'm