Allen Ginsberg's America

In Allen Ginsberg’s poem, America, he expresses sharp criticism of America, and confesses his counter-culture beliefs and tendencies. Ginsberg comments on the American cultural and political landscape, and much of his commentary is expressed in terms of his own relationship with America. Along with a description of his relationship with America in order to more effectively criticize it, Ginsberg’s personal reaction to his criticism is revealing. The combination of his criticism and personal reaction to his own thoughts works to define the self while also allowing for a more effective commentary on America.

In America, the most revealing aspect of Allen Ginsberg’s criticism of America is the complexity of his relationship with America. While
satirizing and bluntly attacking American politics, Ginsberg also partly contradicts his own criticism by revealing his highly personal connection to America. By tying his criticism of America to an expression of his self, Allen Ginsberg is able to more effectively communicate America’s problems. Ginsberg begins America with direct condemnation and pointed questions, saying “Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb”, and giving a list of questions intended to point out America’s flaws, “When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites? / America why are your libraries full of tears? / America when will you send your eggs to India?” After the first portion of the poem, Ginsberg’s criticism becomes more introspective and revealing of his own identity, while also allowing for a more nuanced interpretation and commentary on America’s problems. In the second stanza, Ginsberg first begins to comment on his discontent with America’s cultural identity, saying “Are you going to let our emotional life be run by Time Magazine?” However, he immediately complicates his initial criticism by revealing his own contribution to the problem of Time Magazine, saying “I'm obsessed by Time Magazine. / I read it every week.” Despite Allen Ginsberg’s status as a nearly complete outsider to America, as a gay, communist-influenced, dedicated non-conformist poet, he still can’t escape the corrupting effect of American culture. This highly personal confession is followed by self doubt and then a realization of the fact that his own identity and self is inextricably linked to America, saying “It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me. / It occurs to me that I am America.” Ginsberg’s expression of his self through describing his relationship with America helps offer a more revealing criticism of America.

Ginsberg also defines his self in America through providing a revealing look at his reaction to his own counter-culture thoughts and beliefs. His reaction to his own beliefs also further strengthens his criticism of America through providing a firsthand look at the destructive effect of American conformist culture. In America, Ginsberg appears to experience strong self-doubt, guilt, and internal conflict. Ginsberg’s self-doubt and guilt is revealed through his attempt to affirm his own beliefs, and apparent frustration with the personal influence that America has over him. His frustration and internal conflict is explicitly revealed as Ginsberg says, “[America, ]I’m sick of your insane demands.”, and “America stop pushing I know what I'm doing.” The most revealing aspect of Ginsberg’s self as described through his reaction to his own thoughts and beliefs is when he desperately affirms his counter-culture status, saying “America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies. America I used to be a communist when I was a kid and I'm not sorry. I smoke marijuana every chance I get. I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet. When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.”
In declaring his contradictions to societal norms, Ginsberg is trying to convince himself and the reader of his independence from the corrupting emotional and mental influence of America.
The unfiltered list form of the portion of the poem is suggestive of a Catholic Confession-like admission of sin, especially due to Ginsberg’s follow-up to his list of sins, as he quickly claims “I won't say the Lord's Prayer.” Personal contradictions to Ginsberg’s critique of America are throughout the poem, and although satirical, reveal the reach of America’s corrupting influence, as well as provide personal definition of Ginsberg’s self and a disclosure of his insecurity. Ginsberg satirizes and succumbs to the American obsession with capitalism and money, saying, “America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe”. Additionally, Ginsberg mocks America’s paranoia over communism, saying “America it's them bad Russians. / Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians. / The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take our cars from out our garages.” Although Ginsberg is imitating what he interprets as a stereotypical American paranoia, by switching from affirmations of his cultural and political separation from America to an embodiment of American fear of communism without switching his voice from first-person or explicitly signifying that the voice is not his own, Ginsberg reveals the difficulty he has resisting American social pressure. Ginsberg offers a personal and revealing definition of his self through exposing the internal conflict he experiences with regards to his defiance of American
norms.

In America, Ginsberg criticizes what he views as the prevailing cultural and political identity of American society. His criticism is deepened through his definition of self throughout the poem. By criticizing America in terms of his own self, Ginsberg allows the reader a personal look at the corrupting influence of America. Ginsberg’s definition of self is revealed through his relationship with America and his personal reaction to his own defiance of the prevailing American identity. Revealing the inextricable tie between Ginsberg’s own self and the American identity, and the self-doubt, guilt, and internal conflict Ginsberg experiences are necessary components of Ginsberg’s successful criticism of America and description of America’s flaws. In addition to helping Ginsberg offer a criticism of America, these aspects of America are highly revealing of Ginsberg’s personal self.