Ginsberg’s “Howl”, Essay Example

Abstract

The paper discusses the meaning and implications of Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl”. The role of exaggeration in Ginsberg’s poem is in trying to show reality in its true colors. The combination of different poetic rhythms and techniques is the reflection of multiple cultural and social norms, which characterize postmodernist reality.

Introduction

Allen Ginsberg’s Howl is one of the most prominent masterpieces of what is usually called “the stream of consciousness”. In other words, it is an artistic and highly sophisticated compilation of thoughts and impressions that were running through Ginsberg’s mind as he was writing the poem. However, despite this visible complexity, the world which Ginsberg describes in his poem is quite real and absolutely realistic. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Ginsberg, 1955). What are the reasons behind this madness? Can it be attributed to the complex and rather vague 1950s, or is it because people fail to manage their lives according to society’s expectations? HThe real reason of madness in the world, which Ginsberg describes, is in that people attempt to go beyond the boundaries of their epoch, which splits their reality into pieces and which simultaneously causes a profound social change in human thinking. Those who drive crosscountry seventy two hours to find Eternity, and those who fall on their knees in cathedrals praying for salvation (Ginsberg, 1955), all are both real and unreal, and their actions are mad to the extent, which expands the boundaries of the age, in which they live.

There is no exaggeration of any kind in everything Ginsberg describes in his poem. On the contrary, Ginsberg is very objective and correct in his discussion of machinery, robots, skyscrapers and antennae crown (Ginsberg, 1955). His postmodernist evaluations and his fear of postmodern reality go in line with the poetic forms, which he chooses in his search for effective self-expression. The stream of consciousness and confusing expressions, which Ginsberg uses in his poem, also reflect the moral and spiritual confusion, which a person experiences in the postmodern world. The three parts of the poem, so different in their rhetoric and rhythm, exemplify the growing diversity of interests, cultural beliefs, and norms. This diversity, if not accepted or understood, can readily become the source of madness. However, not always such madness is negative in itself. Rather, it is a pushing factor in the major changes, which people are bound to experience over the life span.

References

Ginsberg, A. (1955). Howl. Retrieved November 12, 2009 from http://www.wussu.com/poems/agh.htm