Analysis Of Allen Ginsberg Howl
During a time so many people romanticize, there were few who saw America for what it was. Electric chairs, lobotomies, and other tortures masquerading as therapies--this is what America truly was in the 1950s. Following the Korean War, America was in an era of great fragility. Speech and art that challenged the status quo of pro-military, pro-USA ideals were rejected. Allen Ginsberg and his peers were among the minority of artists at the time, willing to introduce controversial--sometimes offensive--art into the melting pot of America. At times, they faced repercussions, such as when Ginsberg published Howl and Other Poems. Howl, in particular, contained language that most modest Americans at the time would deem indecent. Even so, Ginsberg
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remained pivotal in the movement for equality. Allen Ginsberg was crucial in the founding of the Beat Generation during the Modern Literary Era, with his controversial works such as Howl challenging the very foundation of American beliefs in the 1950s. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1926, Allen Ginsberg’s life was never a boring one. Growing up, he and his brother, Eugene, attended Communist Party-USA meetings with their mother, Naomi. Naomi Levy Ginsberg suffered from epilepsy and paranoia, illnesses that greatly influenced Ginsberg’s writing (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life”). William Carlos Williams said about Ginsberg, “He was… mentally much disturbed by the life which he had encountered about him…” (“On ‘Howl’”). Ginsberg attended Columbia University beginning in the fall of 1943. There he met William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, the other founding members of the Beat Generation (“Ginsberg, Allen”). Ginsberg was arrested as an accessory to crimes committed by Herbert Huncke (a heroin addict loosely involved with the Beat Generation) in June 1949 when stolen goods were found in his apartment (Charter “Allen Ginsberg’s Life”). He pled psychological disability and was admitted to the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric Institute (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). Ginsberg spent eight months in the institution, during which he met Carl Solomon, the man to whom he dedicated Howl. He left New York in December 1953 for Mexico, and then later settled in San Francisco. Here, he met his partner Peter Orlovsky. In 1955, he wrote Howl, having been inspired by the jazz poem Mexico City Blues, which was written by his friend Jack Kerouac (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). The following year, 1956, Howl and Other Poems was published and later banned for containing obscenities. In 1962, Ginsberg traveled with his partner to South America, Europe, Morocco, and India. This was a monumental year in his life, as he discovered Buddhism, which was an extreme influence on his writing as well as his lifestyle (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). In the years leading up to his death in 1997, he was an active protester of the war in Vietnam and helped poet Ann Waldman found the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets in 1974 (Charter “Allen Ginsberg’s Life”). Throughout his lifetime, Ginsberg won several awards, such as the Woodberry Poetry Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Before Columbus Foundation (“Allen Ginsberg”). Ginsberg died of liver cancer two months short of his 71st birthday. Ginsberg wrote mostly during the Modern Literary Era, particularly relating to the contentious style of the Beat Generation. The Beat Generation, members including Jack Kerouac and Janis Joplin, was especially progressive and forward-thinking. Ginsberg’s writing also featured many characteristics of Modernism, especially through writing with experiences of alienation and despair. Modernism, poetry being the main form, was typical of being disenthralled with the “American Dream”, as well as being more focused on the workings of the human mind. While Ginsberg’s writing is distinctive of Modernism, he also used several techniques of Romanticism. Ginsberg idolized Walt Whitman, a prominent poet during the Romantic Literary Era. The use of free verse and anaphora was typical of Whitman, which later inspired Ginsberg, as is evident in Howl. Ginsberg, in general, threw social convention out of the window in his writing. In his introduction to Howl, William Carlos Williams said, “Hold back the edges of your gowns, Ladies, we are going through hell.” (“On ‘Howl’”). Ginsberg's bravery in publishing Howl, as well as the works of other members of the Beat Generation, has influenced many artists since.
Howl is, by and large, one of Ginsberg’s most popular poems. Shrouded in controversy, Ginsberg’s writing is frank in his description of the people of his generation. In part one of Howl, Ginsberg writes about about the experiences of the “angelheaded hipsters" (Ginsberg 3). Most likely a tribute to his peers at Columbia, the chronicle of these hipster’s lives is filled with hysteria and despair. Ginsberg speaks of the hipster’s imagination being stolen from them, and them being forced to conform to societal norms, or to face the consequences. The tone is defiant and hurried, as if he is running out of time to tell his story. As he transitions into part two, the tone changes to that of the oppressed confronting the oppressor. Ginsberg gives the oppressor the name “Moloch,” an ancient deity to whom children were sacrificed. This represents the institutions of the world “sacrificing” the children’s imagination and art in favor of more socially accepted and respected endeavours. When Ginsberg confronts the autocrat that caused the strife of part one, he reaches what John Hollander called a “rare point of self-referential lucidity,” (qtd. in “On ‘Howl’”). Hollander is referring to the lines, “Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river!/Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!” and so on (Ginsberg 91, 92). Here, Ginsberg had realized that the “sacrifices” to “Moloch” were all for naught. In part three, Ginsberg finally addresses the man the poem was dedicated, Carl Solomon. He reassures Solomon, “I’m with you in Rockland,” Rockland representing the mental institution where they met (Ginsberg 94). The poem ends with Ginsberg figuratively reuniting with Solomon. When reflecting on Howl, Ginsberg said, “I thought I wouldn’t write a poem, but just write what I wanted to without fear. Let my imagination go, open secrecy, and scribble magic lines from my real mind … write for my own soul’s ear and a few other golden ears.” (qtd. in “Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’; ‘I scribbled magic lines from my real mind’”).
Howl is an extremely crass, honest work of poetry.
Ginsberg wrote with an autobiographical sense, almost as though it is a preface to the rest of the poem. Throughout part one, Ginsberg used techniques that are characteristic of Walt Whitman, and as Richard Eberhart said, "Ginsberg thinks he is going forward by going back to the methods of Whitman." (qtd. in "On 'Howl'"). Ginsberg used the technique of writing with long lines, a technique Whitman often employed. This provides the poem with a feeling similar to that of a run on sentence, giving it the feeling of being angered and hurried. This is effective in making the reader feel broken down, similar to how the “hipsters” are described as feeling. Part two serves as a climax in relation to the more introductory first part. The comparison of Moloch to modern institutions was clever, giving those institutions a more monstrous effect. As the repetitive chanting of “Moloch” continues, Ginsberg speaks of people breaking “...their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!” (Ginsberg 90). Here, he is speaking of those oppressed by these institutions. This is figurative of society constantly trying to improve upon living conditions: making it more Heaven-like for those that are privileged enough to experience the fruit of other’s labors. Parts one and two of Howl are especially raw, a characteristic that today give it a progressive quality, as well as a deep insight into the oppression of the 1950s. In the final part, Ginsberg addresses Carl Solomon, borrowing even more from Walt Whitman’s writing style. Ginsberg reunites with Solomon, telling him “I’m here with you in Rockland where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void” (Ginsberg 107). Another of the real-world elements Ginsberg incorporated into Howl, Carl Solomon actually underwent shock therapy to
treat his depression. Crude and unpleasant, these elements give the poem a unique authenticity.
Allen Ginsberg’s central membership within the Beat Generation and contentious political and social stance has made him an icon of literature and equality in the mid-1900s. Ginsberg’s success came out of times of great strife--with his unstable childhood and questionable adulthood leading to many great works of poetry. With his publishing of Howl, as well as several other works, Ginsberg has allowed us to see America through a different lense: A lense of the oppressed. His bravery in publishing many a controversial poem has allowed people today a look back at the reality of the more overlooked Americans of the 1900s. Ginsberg’s art and activism has and will continue to inspire generations of artists to come.
remained pivotal in the movement for equality. Allen Ginsberg was crucial in the founding of the Beat Generation during the Modern Literary Era, with his controversial works such as Howl challenging the very foundation of American beliefs in the 1950s. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1926, Allen Ginsberg’s life was never a boring one. Growing up, he and his brother, Eugene, attended Communist Party-USA meetings with their mother, Naomi. Naomi Levy Ginsberg suffered from epilepsy and paranoia, illnesses that greatly influenced Ginsberg’s writing (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life”). William Carlos Williams said about Ginsberg, “He was… mentally much disturbed by the life which he had encountered about him…” (“On ‘Howl’”). Ginsberg attended Columbia University beginning in the fall of 1943. There he met William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, the other founding members of the Beat Generation (“Ginsberg, Allen”). Ginsberg was arrested as an accessory to crimes committed by Herbert Huncke (a heroin addict loosely involved with the Beat Generation) in June 1949 when stolen goods were found in his apartment (Charter “Allen Ginsberg’s Life”). He pled psychological disability and was admitted to the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric Institute (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). Ginsberg spent eight months in the institution, during which he met Carl Solomon, the man to whom he dedicated Howl. He left New York in December 1953 for Mexico, and then later settled in San Francisco. Here, he met his partner Peter Orlovsky. In 1955, he wrote Howl, having been inspired by the jazz poem Mexico City Blues, which was written by his friend Jack Kerouac (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). The following year, 1956, Howl and Other Poems was published and later banned for containing obscenities. In 1962, Ginsberg traveled with his partner to South America, Europe, Morocco, and India. This was a monumental year in his life, as he discovered Buddhism, which was an extreme influence on his writing as well as his lifestyle (Charter "Allen Ginsberg's Life"). In the years leading up to his death in 1997, he was an active protester of the war in Vietnam and helped poet Ann Waldman found the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets in 1974 (Charter “Allen Ginsberg’s Life”). Throughout his lifetime, Ginsberg won several awards, such as the Woodberry Poetry Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Before Columbus Foundation (“Allen Ginsberg”). Ginsberg died of liver cancer two months short of his 71st birthday. Ginsberg wrote mostly during the Modern Literary Era, particularly relating to the contentious style of the Beat Generation. The Beat Generation, members including Jack Kerouac and Janis Joplin, was especially progressive and forward-thinking. Ginsberg’s writing also featured many characteristics of Modernism, especially through writing with experiences of alienation and despair. Modernism, poetry being the main form, was typical of being disenthralled with the “American Dream”, as well as being more focused on the workings of the human mind. While Ginsberg’s writing is distinctive of Modernism, he also used several techniques of Romanticism. Ginsberg idolized Walt Whitman, a prominent poet during the Romantic Literary Era. The use of free verse and anaphora was typical of Whitman, which later inspired Ginsberg, as is evident in Howl. Ginsberg, in general, threw social convention out of the window in his writing. In his introduction to Howl, William Carlos Williams said, “Hold back the edges of your gowns, Ladies, we are going through hell.” (“On ‘Howl’”). Ginsberg's bravery in publishing Howl, as well as the works of other members of the Beat Generation, has influenced many artists since.
Howl is, by and large, one of Ginsberg’s most popular poems. Shrouded in controversy, Ginsberg’s writing is frank in his description of the people of his generation. In part one of Howl, Ginsberg writes about about the experiences of the “angelheaded hipsters" (Ginsberg 3). Most likely a tribute to his peers at Columbia, the chronicle of these hipster’s lives is filled with hysteria and despair. Ginsberg speaks of the hipster’s imagination being stolen from them, and them being forced to conform to societal norms, or to face the consequences. The tone is defiant and hurried, as if he is running out of time to tell his story. As he transitions into part two, the tone changes to that of the oppressed confronting the oppressor. Ginsberg gives the oppressor the name “Moloch,” an ancient deity to whom children were sacrificed. This represents the institutions of the world “sacrificing” the children’s imagination and art in favor of more socially accepted and respected endeavours. When Ginsberg confronts the autocrat that caused the strife of part one, he reaches what John Hollander called a “rare point of self-referential lucidity,” (qtd. in “On ‘Howl’”). Hollander is referring to the lines, “Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river!/Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!” and so on (Ginsberg 91, 92). Here, Ginsberg had realized that the “sacrifices” to “Moloch” were all for naught. In part three, Ginsberg finally addresses the man the poem was dedicated, Carl Solomon. He reassures Solomon, “I’m with you in Rockland,” Rockland representing the mental institution where they met (Ginsberg 94). The poem ends with Ginsberg figuratively reuniting with Solomon. When reflecting on Howl, Ginsberg said, “I thought I wouldn’t write a poem, but just write what I wanted to without fear. Let my imagination go, open secrecy, and scribble magic lines from my real mind … write for my own soul’s ear and a few other golden ears.” (qtd. in “Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’; ‘I scribbled magic lines from my real mind’”).
Howl is an extremely crass, honest work of poetry.
Ginsberg wrote with an autobiographical sense, almost as though it is a preface to the rest of the poem. Throughout part one, Ginsberg used techniques that are characteristic of Walt Whitman, and as Richard Eberhart said, "Ginsberg thinks he is going forward by going back to the methods of Whitman." (qtd. in "On 'Howl'"). Ginsberg used the technique of writing with long lines, a technique Whitman often employed. This provides the poem with a feeling similar to that of a run on sentence, giving it the feeling of being angered and hurried. This is effective in making the reader feel broken down, similar to how the “hipsters” are described as feeling. Part two serves as a climax in relation to the more introductory first part. The comparison of Moloch to modern institutions was clever, giving those institutions a more monstrous effect. As the repetitive chanting of “Moloch” continues, Ginsberg speaks of people breaking “...their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!” (Ginsberg 90). Here, he is speaking of those oppressed by these institutions. This is figurative of society constantly trying to improve upon living conditions: making it more Heaven-like for those that are privileged enough to experience the fruit of other’s labors. Parts one and two of Howl are especially raw, a characteristic that today give it a progressive quality, as well as a deep insight into the oppression of the 1950s. In the final part, Ginsberg addresses Carl Solomon, borrowing even more from Walt Whitman’s writing style. Ginsberg reunites with Solomon, telling him “I’m here with you in Rockland where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void” (Ginsberg 107). Another of the real-world elements Ginsberg incorporated into Howl, Carl Solomon actually underwent shock therapy to
treat his depression. Crude and unpleasant, these elements give the poem a unique authenticity.
Allen Ginsberg’s central membership within the Beat Generation and contentious political and social stance has made him an icon of literature and equality in the mid-1900s. Ginsberg’s success came out of times of great strife--with his unstable childhood and questionable adulthood leading to many great works of poetry. With his publishing of Howl, as well as several other works, Ginsberg has allowed us to see America through a different lense: A lense of the oppressed. His bravery in publishing many a controversial poem has allowed people today a look back at the reality of the more overlooked Americans of the 1900s. Ginsberg’s art and activism has and will continue to inspire generations of artists to come.