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Howl

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I chose “Howl” to examine because it describes in great detail the anger, frustration, and self-destruction of Allen’s generation. Allen felt that his generation conformed to standards and to the American culture. Thus, he uses the poem, “Howl”, to express his anger and refusal to conform to America’s standards. The title of the poem suggests themes in the poem like madness and anger toward conformity. Moreover, the title suggests the theme of expression in the form of angry words and lines. In part I of “Howl”, he states, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…” (McMichael 1747). Allen is saying the best minds got destroyed because they conformed to America’s culture and standards. He describes the people who conformed to the …show more content…

For example, “who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war” (McMichael 1748). This means the great minds that went through prestigious universities only went through to get a basic degree instead of staying there to gain more intelligence and success. His theme throughout part I of “Howl” is how the greatest minds lost their greatness due to conformity instead of exercising individuality. Another example is, “who walked all night with their shoes full of blood on the snowbank docks waiting for a door in the East River to open to a room full of steamheat and opium” (McMichael 1750). Allen is showing people would rather take a drug instead of using their mind and intelligence in the world. He describes these examples of people’s minds deteriorating with a lot detail. For instance, he describes people walking all night with shoes filled with blood for a drug. This shows the determination people have to get the drug. The themes in part I of “Howl” are how conformity to standards and culture destroy great minds, and the anger Allen has for people who throw their minds

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