William Ginsberg Thesis

Ginsberg describes Beatniks who ate, wept, coughed, plunged, cut, balled, hiccupped, howled, broke, burned, cowered, and sank, yacketyyakking, screaming, vomiting, whispering. These endless verbs range from ecstatic to violent and give the poem an almost frantic tone that reflects the lives of the oppressed. Ginsberg even titles his poem “howl,” a cry of emotion and sorrow. To howl is to wail in self-pity, to be helpless and alone. Hearing a howl is both frightening and piercingly sad. A howl is a perfect representation of the collective cry of the Beats; a people trapped like helpless animals with nothing to do but howl in despair.

Have you ever thought of how social and economic classes work into a capitalist system? Marxists believe that different social and economic classes should be equal. In the book the “Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald these classes are very much defined and show the flaws and reality of how social and economic classes are viewed through Marxists. Viewing the classes through vulgar Marxists the characters attempting to climb social and economical ladders in the book are not accepted and rejected from upper class individuals. “The Great Gatsby” shows that people attempting to be something he or she is not does not mean they have achieved these social and economic goals and will be rejected by the very people they are attempting to

Similar to Marx, Ginsberg is against the idea of a small fraction of the people having significant control and power. Even though the poem is harsh on America, the goal of the author is not to shun or shame the country but try to better it. He is an extremely critical patriot trying to correct America’s flaws.

Through a careful interpretation of A Defense of Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Democratic Vistas by Walt Whitman, one can gain a holistic sense of poetry, what it is and what it does, that can be applied to literary texts of all times. One can better understand Allen Ginsberg's "America" through an examination of the aforementioned texts as well. The literary merit of the poem is best recognized through Walt Whitman's Democratic Vistas, although Percy Bysshe Shelley's A Defense of Poetry also contributes some very critical parallels to the poem and its characteristics.

However, Ginsberg uses his Moloch to symbolize much more than sacrifice and false gods; he represents a total ruin of society. Evil governments, economic hardships, and rejection are all a part of Ginsberg’s Moloch and he wants society to see the evil around them but he wants them to see it on their own. “Moloch whom I abandon”. Ginsberg himself is almost like a god, always watching and leaving subtle hints, but never interfering with the natural order of things. If people are to see the real society, they will see it on their own. However, Ginsberg could also just be relying on the knowledge of his readers to know who Moloch is or simply know that he is bad. It seems more likely that Ginsberg is hiding his criticism of society behind this deity in order to spark an interest in this Moloch figure and one day have the people protest for acceptance, free will, and a helping

Ginsberg expresses what Moloch means to him. The “best minds” are exposed to the unpleasant feeling of being remote from society if they did not follow their callings. Those callings create solitude of man from one another and the world as a whole. Members of the American society sacrifice their time and emotions for an unobtainable wealth they can never receive. Ginsberg reflects on poverty of the time the “best minds” were living in which left the children homeless and on the streets. Ginsberg expresses American society taking the young people and making them go mad by stating that boys were in armies and old men in parks. Moloch creates the filth and ugliness the “best minds” are forced to live in if they do not conform to the ideals of the modern society they

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.

Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars!” where he explores the institutions of Moloch. Ginsberg writes from the bottom up “dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn...” of him and his people “looking for an angry fix,” (5) where angry fix is a frequent reference to the use of hard drugs. “ Ginsberg seemed to struggle with the institutions of the 1950’s.

An example that really highlights this is in part I, line 24 where he says “who studied Plotinus Poe St. John of the Cross telepathy and bop kabbalah because of the cosmos…” Ginsberg conveys to us that he and his friends are spiritual and religious because they have studied St. John of the Cross, a catholic religious figure and Kabbalah, a religious Jewish term. What is also interesting about this line is that St. John of the Cross “was a Spanish poet whose work is considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature” (biography.com), Ginsberg and his friends are also well known poets who could pretty much be known as the summit of modern day poetry. The use of language in this poem portrays Ginsberg’s raw and true feelings he has towards life. Whether it be anger towards institutions or expressing his sexuality, Allen Ginsberg is not afraid to speak his

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked”, In this quote from Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”, I don’t see a social commentary from one of my favorite poems, I don’t see Ginsberg’s observation of the destructive qualities: war, society, government, and capitalism on these outcasts, these drug users¬¬--drop outs, musicians, and poets, the disregarded yet “the best minds of my generation”. No. In this line I see my grandmother. I see her transform from one of the strongest willed and independent woman I’ve ever known, to a person stuck in a nursing home that doesn’t even realize that they’ve worn the same clothes for three days straight. I see one of the greatest minds of my generation, my life, destroyed

Therefore, in the very beginning, Ginsberg presents to the reader the subject and tone of the poem in the context of this question. Ginsberg’s questions make the audience realize the seriousness of the issues that this poem discusess, such as America, politics, war, humanity, and ethics.

     To gain freedom from the restraints of life they rebelled against everything that seemed normal to regular citizens of society. ?Kerouac?s novels are more readily summarized than Ginsberg?s poetry or the Beat?s

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

His friends included guys like Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William S. Burroughs. These are just few names that make up the Beat Poets. Throughout part one Ginsberg is talking about the who. Almost every line in the poem begins with who. The who in the poem is the most important part of part one. He centers part one around his friends and how they are brainwashed by intellectual institutions such as universities. Line six says, “who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war(Line 6).” Here he and his friends enter into the institution of great universities with a sense of wonder and excitement, but quickly realize it is all a hallucination. Blake-light tragedy refers to the artist William Blake who is known for his intense paintings that are more on the dark side. The following line says, “who were expelled from the academies for crazy(Line 7),” which shows how Ginsberg and friends were viewed as being radical about their view on the world. So much so that they were expelled from their universities. The tone in part one is very strong. Throughout part one, Ginsberg paints a picture for the reader and brings the reader into his world. His passion against the institution of universities and government brings