Cracking the Cranium There is more to Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL than meets the eye. “HOWL” is a poem written by Ginsberg in 1955. “HOWL” was published in 1956 as part of Ginsberg’s collection of poetry titled “HOWL and Other Poems”. Throughout the poem Ginsberg’s rants to his readers about the social institutions slowly destroying the minds of his generation. He speaks to his peers and confronts the social institutions about their corruption. Ginsberg constructs HOWL into a dialogue, articulating “who” are the victims of the institution’s destruction, “what” is destroying their imagination, and “where” society’s restraints can longer detain their souls. Allen Ginsberg wrote “HOWL” during the 1950s, a time period when society was undergoing …show more content…
Americans began to protest against social inequality and injustice. The struggle against racism and segregation entered mainstream American life. During the fifties chaos, a new generation emerged; The Beats. The Beats were a literary group of post-World War II writers that flourished during the mid-1950s until the early 1960s (Matterson 2003). They attacked the conformity of the 1950s. Instead of following society’s rules, The Beats lived by their own terms and encouraged other’s individuality. Ginsberg was a prominent member of The Beats and described all of his experiences with this particular group in HOWL. In part 1 Ginsberg howls to his readers about “who” is at the expense of social institution destruction. He wrote part 1 as The Beats gallivanted around the city. Automatically he retorts, “I witnessed the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,” (1). Ginsberg has helplessly watched his peers conform and lose their …show more content…
Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!”(83). If Moloch was a human, his mind would be a soulless machine and his fingers would be weapons of destruction. Ginsberg believes the government convinces the public it’s the only solution to all international problems. Ginsberg also realized how social institutions influence people’s lives from birth, “Moloch who entered my soul early! Moloch in whom I am consciousness without a body! Moloch who frightened me out of my natural ecstasy! Moloch whom I abandon! Wake up Moloch! Light streaming out of the sky!” (87). He admits he conformed to society’s rules at an early age, but has broken free as an adult. Ginsberg challenges the social intuitions attempts of conformity and taunts them as he rejects their
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
Lee notices that Ginsberg’s use of anaphora questions “the historical origins of both social afflictions and collective resistance in Howl.” The “origins of both social afflictions” and “collective resistance” stems from America’s need to impose unrealistic expectations on young people. Ginsberg idealizes America’s youth by celebrating their imperfection. Ginsberg “blurs” his “central objects of identification” by finding a connection between the insanity that Carl Solomon and Naomi Ginsberg share. The “blighted hopes and wasted intellects” of America’s past and present generation are subject to
Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” is a thought-provoking piece used to epitomize and give a voice the Beat Movement of the mid-20th century as they sought to reject nearly every aspect of society. Within his writing, he is quite literally “howling” his frustration regarding the conformism plaguing the population and seeks to abolish that by showing and protesting the havoc it has wreaked on even the best, most brilliant minds of his time. In what became an early forerunner to more modern calls for non-conformist action, Ginsberg employs vivid imagery, anaphora, and allusion to convey his message in the mind’s eye of his readers. A key literary device used by Ginsberg is imagery, which he utilizes to trigger the reader’s senses and foster a more holistic understanding of his writing by helping them to develop their
Allen Ginsberg’s collection Howl and Other Poems is a collection of poems that exudes rebellion. Every word and every stanza that Ginsberg writes throughout every single one of the poems is fueled with intentionality, and is used very purposefully to achieve a greater meaning. The entire collection is an allegory, Ginsberg publishes it in 1956, a time period
The life and times of Allen Ginsberg is given a breath of fresh air with Director John Krokia exploring the relationship between Ginsberg and his asphyxiating, enigmatic classmate, Lucian Carr. A relationship formerly unexplored in the two previous beat generation films that fell flat including Howl (2010) and On the
” Williams’ theory therefore suggests that the terms must necessarily co-exist in order to define each other. The “pervasiveness of consent ” therefore characterises the fifties, against which these Beat texts can be contrasted. Theodore Roszak’s 1969 article ‘The Making of a Counterculture,’ helps define beat ideology as “heightened self-expression and often a rejection of political and authoritative institutions… a negative spirit of the times coupled with a specific lifestyle .” Both On the Road and Howl and their author’s lifestyles of their writers reflect this criterion, in idiomatic and contextual terms, lending to the notion that they are, by the overall nature of their existence, countercultural texts. Roszak’s adolescent counterculture often seems the embodiment of Dean and Sal’s ‘beatitude’ in On the Road “when they pulse to music…value what is raunchy… flare against authority, seek new experience, ” but it is similarly descriptive of the naked, sometime vulgar language Ginsberg employs in Howl “who bit detectives in the neck… let themselves be fucked in the ass.” (13) The Beats admire the vibrancy naturally present among youth, and although this is a style for which their writing has been criticised, it is a move away from the traditionally
Howl for the Subjection of our Individuality: Allen Ginsberg Reveals Corruption of Institutions Within America Allen Ginsberg: a poetic genius or lunatic? When reading Howl for the first hundred pages, Ginsberg’s sanity does not seem very apparent. Though, after time and deep interpretation, it shows raw truth, Ginsberg bares his soul within his poem, Howl. We are born, a soul into a body, genuinely each one-of-a-kind. Though, it seems America and its powerful institutions, tend to rip away layer by layer of individuality until there is nothing left.
Not many viewers understand that with Ginsberg’s obscenity in his poetry are how he expresses on how he feels about what he views the world he’s
Intending to start a revolution, Allen Ginsberg uses figurative language in Howl to bring awareness of the social restrictions implemented by the universities and offers hope of a free society. Allen Ginsberg
In the poem Howl, Allen Ginsberg challenges the modernity of American culture, which enforces the “best minds” (1) to give up their freedom to conform to the desired sense of normality. Ginsberg states “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked/ dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix” (9). His expression of Moloch The angry fix is what all of these “best minds” look for after being stripped of their freedom to conform to the new American culture after World War II.
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.
In the 1950’s, a new literary movement recognized as the Beat Generation influentially changed the United States with an outburst of creativity and cultural innovation. Allen Ginsberg, one of the “founders” of the Beat Generation, made a significant impact in the history of American literature. Howl, one of his great works, caught the attention of the public and immensely broadened the style of poetic writing. From end to end, Ginsberg’s work changed the standard of modern American poetry by using various tones, forms, and figurative language.
In conclusion, Allen Ginsberg was the core of the beat poet generation where freedom and spontaneous practices were celebrated. With his creation of Howl he articulated his insights of mental institutions and how they limited the pure talent in patients by restricting their freedom of expression. These controversy dates back to the 1950’s yet is still very much alive in the 21st
Ginsberg’s work often represents a struggle for spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. This can be seen in his writing of “Howl”:
When Allen Ginsberg sat down at a secondhand typewriter in 1955 and began the first of his many subsequent drafts of "Howl," he had no idea of the controversy it would cause. I fact, he didn't even set out to write a formal poem and especially not one that he would consider publishing. Instead, what the 29 year old began would materialize into his most famous literary work and the cause of a much publicized trial debating the first amendment right to freedom of speech. The events of Ginsberg's life and the events going on in the world around him inspired and prepared him to write "Howl," but perhaps one of the most important factors contributing to the poem and the