Howl Ginsberg Analysis

In the poem Howl part one, Allen Ginsberg travels all over the world and describes his life and the “ best minds of his generation” (1) the beat poets. Ginsberg expresses his tone with emptiness, darkness, and depression. Part two; the word Moloch represents war, governments, psychiatric hospital, universities and any other social authorities. Ginsberg conveys that Moloch is responsible for war and sorrows; this ties to the first part of Ginsberg poem. In part three; “I’m with you in Rockland”, where Rockland represents the mental hospital. With the calmer tone, he addresses his friend from “Rockland” Carl Solomon. He conveys how Solomon suffers from delusions, and compares Solomon with his mother. “I’m with you in Rockland

Ginsberg addressed the inner workings of his complicated mind through his poetry, but he also inspired his readers to do so as well. Ginsberg was notorious for representing a variety of controversial issues, but he was also a part of the drug scene as a means of expanding personal exploration towards questioning the human condition. In his travels alongside his partner, Peter Orlovsky, Ginsberg was inspired by a variety of psychedelic drugs and the peaceful acceptance of Eastern religions to develop a “global consciousness” that challenged his native society (Schumacher). In the same way rock music of the counterculture combined different types of music, Ginsberg's poetry uniquely combined styles of poetry, religious influences, and drug-induced creative thought processes to question his reality living in a Christian-dominated society. One passage of “Howl” in particular reads, “I’m with

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 dedicates the entire third part of his epic poem, exclaiming his loyalty, to his dear friend, Carl Solomon. The third part of Howl is an example of loyalty that Beatnik artists and intellects have towards one another. In a small community like the Beatniks, it is sensible to be loyal to those whom one can truly trust and connect with as there are more who will challenge you than stand by you. So, it is crucial to hold on to those who share in your successes and tribulations with an open mind and open heart.

‘’Howl’’ was a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1956. For us to understand the poem it is necessary for us to understand the history behind the poem. ‘’ Howl ‘’ was published in 1956, right after the devastating World War II. After WWII that’s when the American dream was in full force throughout the whole world. Many Immigrants were trying to migrate to the US at that time for a better living. At the same time media was becoming big and powerful gaining trust from citizens while television was on its peak being the most important part of the media growth as it exported an immense number news to consumers. While Americans were busy with the new experience of having, news transmitted to them on the comfort of their houses, others worked hard to get a movement started, from the streets, to the bars at night. A group of poets would gather together to express their arts of literature written by them. Ginsberg’s ‘’ Howl ‘’ was Beat generation’s first heartbeat, as the poem was first performed at Six Gallery in San Francisco in 1955 it was the moment when Beat generation was built. As the poem was published in 1955 with the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, the poem was considered one of the best American poem to be performed. The members of that movement were professional writers although ‘’Howl’’ was the first foremost Beat generation work to be printed. The beat generation style of writing was something different that nobody had the guts

With his audacity and cynical outlook on life, Ginsberg countlessly influenced the Beat Movement of the 1950’s. Born in Newark, New Jersey, 1926, Allen Ginsberg was known in the poetry world for the cutthroat social commentary presented in his work. With a mentally ill mother, and a strict disciplinarian father, Ginsberg’s troubled childhood is considered to be one of the main inspirations for his writing. His father introduced him to poetry, and his main influence was his high school mentor, William Carlos Williams. (Allen Ginsberg 1)

The Beat Generation is a literary movement during the 1950s that consisted of male authors including the widely known Allen Ginsberg, who explored American culture in their poems. The Beat Generation could be described as misogynistic and patriarchal due to their exclusion of women and concerns confined to only male outcasts. In Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 “Howl”, he brings his audience’s attention to male outcasts in society. In her 2015 “Howl”, a critical response to Ginsberg’s “Howl”, Amy Newman explores the oppression outcasted women endure in a male-dominated culture through the allusions of an admired female poet, Ginsberg’s original stanza form, and utilizing diction to convey a woman's perspective antithetically to Allen Ginsberg's original.

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

Ginsberg’s poetry sparked a revolution against materialistic ideals, which had run rampant in the United States during the 1950’s and 1960’s. He expressed his disgust with mass consumerism, and materialistic ideals in what is arguably Ginsberg’s most powerful and popular piece of poetry, Howl. In Howl Ginsberg provides a reflection of a culture of individuals who are living outside of the societal norms of the time. The system of control, including the conformist society of

The poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg brought criticism to American Society in the 1950’s, at a time when it was a postwar period and was also a time of expansion and prosperity in American culture. People in the American culture received the poem in many different ways, some embraced the poem, thinking it detailed the way things were perceived at that time, while others thought it was obscene and should be banned. In my opinion, I think it was a relevant evaluation of how most people felt during that time, though some people thought the poem took it too far with obscenities and lustful thoughts the poem portrayed. After reading the poem “Howl” I am convinced that Ginsberg is trying to make a point that rules and structure are what is wrong with the generation of that period and making people go mad and acting out in different ways. Ginsberg uses slang terminology throughout the poem to get a point across to his readers that this generation has no regard for authority and has lost respect for what is good and proper.

Ginsberg’s work often represents a struggle for spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. This can be seen in his writing of “Howl”:

Having known many friends that have gone through the feelings of isolation, I can relate to his writing. Howl is broken up into parts. These parts represent the different phases of a man’s journey out of isolation. In part one of his writing he places the reader in a chaotic setting. Sex, drugs, violence is what fills the mind of Ginsberg.

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness” (Ginsberg,I,1). If history has proven anything, it showed us that life in the 1950’s was emotionless. Many citizens had to follow a certain social order. For example business men had to act very sophisticated around others and women had to act reserved. Certain taboos subjects were usually off limits during conversations like sex, drugs and love. In Allen Ginsberg’s poem titled “Howl for Carl Solomon”, Ginsberg reveals the realities of the 1950’s lifestyle specifically through the use of literary techniques such as allusions, imagery and description, expressing the emotionless lives that the citizens were living, the corruption that the US government had on society and the madness that those who were not seen as the social norm, had to face. Ginsberg is famously known for having a special twist to his poems. First time readers of his work usually get a mixture of perspectives and feel like his work is unorganized. While contrary to that belief, his use of literary techniques opened a whole new way to express his emotions in his poems.

Allen Ginsberg’s work carries strong the themes of the Beat Generation, a rebellious and melodramatic extravaganza. He grew up protesting World War II, then continued to fill his life with drugs and rebellion. He wrote much of his work during the Vietnam War, a highly opposed war that caused much distress especially in the young male demographic because of the draft. While often containing anti war and anti government rhetoric, his poems usually focus on amorous connections and the troubles of his time. Ravaged by drugs, depression, and debt, the Beat Generation sees many of its core themes in the work of Allen Ginsberg.

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