Analysis of Allen Ginsberg's America

1274 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social context of the poem America by Ginsberg

Analysis of Allen Ginsberg's America

What Allen Ginsberg did in 1955 was unthinkable. In the midst of McCarthyism and severe anticommunist sentiment, he wrote a poem in which he admitted having belonged to the Communist party. Yet, even more surprising was that he didn't stop there. In his poem "America," Allen Ginsberg challenges the beliefs and values that the United States has always cherished, leaving no stone unturned, and no feather unruffled. Always the cynic and revolutionary, Ginsberg slaughters the sacred cows.

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 nothing." (P-M 368) He goes on to explain that all he has left is pocket change, which is little consolation for the mind he has lost. It is from this point on that Ginsberg explores the resentment felt toward America, and why he can't succumb to the complacency that grips the rest of the population.

One of the most blatant, and effective social commentaries lies in the line, "Go *censored* yourself with your atom bomb." (P-M 368) The Cold War raged as Ginsberg penned this work, and every facet of American culture reflected in some way the fear associated with nuclear destruction. The Military Industrial Complex (M.I.C.) built more bombs and bombers, while technology was birthed and antiquated month after month. America was moving at record speed toward what Ginsberg viewed as insanity. Tired of being pushed forward, he writes, "I don't feel good don't bother me. / I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind." (P-M 368) He is dragging his feet, never wanting to give into America's "insane d...

... middle of paper ...

...e then professes that he isn't fit out for the army, or making precision parts, so the reader is left to ponder what direction Ginsberg will take. Based upon his later work, it is clear that he chose the path of greatest resistance, yet he remained true to form his entire career.

Always having to have the last word, Ginsberg wraps up "America" by stating proudly he is "putting (his) queer shoulder to the wheel." (P-M 370) He has accepted only his version of America and has exposed the other America for the fraud it was. He was brutally honest and spared no feelings. His words were brave and meaningful, with irony and cynicism woven into the pattern of razor-sharp criticism. America could never be the same again. Allen Ginsberg had slaughtered the scared cows.

Bibliography:

Poetry for the Millenium, First Edition, "America" bvy Allen Ginsberg

Show More
Related

  • Literary Analysis Of Heather Christle's Five Poems For America

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dubbed as “The Greatest Country in the World” by god knows who, America is not as awesome and free as some may see. In doing a close reading of Heather Christle’s “Five Poems for America”, we can see how the author uses metaphors to portray a flawed American, specifically within its political system, religion, obsession with technology and basic human rights. Americans have been living with the oppression of these everyday issues, completely oblivious thus creating the America we infamously know today.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Gettysburg Address and Ginsberg's America

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    The "Poet of the New Violence" On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. Ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984. 29-31.

    Read More

  • The New Deal and American Federalism

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ginsberg, Benjamin, Theodore J Lowi and Margaret Weir. We the people. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Print.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Whitman’s Song of Myself with Ginsberg’s Howl

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...erg’s lines are inwardly. The self of Whitman is all-encompassing but Ginsberg’s self is passive, lacking diversity by excluding rural settings. In short, Ginsberg’s Howl” is a journey through a different route to reality by leaving the doubts behind and taking the lead role of a public American poet-prophet, which Whitman only dreamt of in his life by composing poetry for an imagined audience.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of 'America' By Tony Hoagland

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland reflects on how peoples’ minds are clouded by small-scale items, money, and the unimportance of those items. Metaphors and imagery are utilized to emphasize the unimportance of materialistic items in America. How America is being flooded with unnecessary goods. The poem uses examples of people to create an example and connection to the overall meaning.

    Read More

  • Ginsberg's Howl: Transforming the Perception of Obscenity

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    The banning of books on the grounds of obscenity was not an uncommon practice. Countless works of literature were banned for having mention of sexually explicit language or a sexual act, even though the work as a whole did not intend to serve this purpose. Disagreements arose from this premise and there was a lack of clarity as to what dictated obscenity and who decided what is suitable for the public to read. Other legal matters such as the rights protected under the First Amendment were questioned. When the writing of Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl was brought to court, it changed the perception of obscenity in literature.

    Read More

  • Anti Intellectualism In American Culture

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    “, he uses logos to appeal to his readers. He goes on to say how Americans over confidence in their country caused them to believe that they are superior to the rest of the world and that America established and achieved the notion of freedom, making our lives to be superior and better than everywhere else in the world. Then, he pulls the rug under the readers feet by saying well this is not true. He cites multiple sources that suggest otherwise. For instance, America being placed as sixteenth on the international quality of life ranking, America’s murder ,other violent crime, and incarceration rates greater than most of the cultivated world. While there education and technical literacy is so low it’s humiliating. Some Americans having trouble really critically thinking when it comes to most of the social issues and act irrationally with no justification of their actions. For instance, after justice did not prevail at first during the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore and other following altercations, many young African Americans began to riot, loot, and destroy their own community. Due to the lack of education provided to their community to give them the tools and ability to think rationally, they let their emotions and animalistic nature to

    Read More

  • Othello’s Dramatic Flaw in Shakespeare's Othello

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    MLA International Bibliography. The book of the year. EBSCO. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Lunatics Taking Over the Asylum: Cultural Chaos in 1960s America

    7167 Words  | 15 Pages

    Homosexuality remained illegal in most parts of America until the 1960s, but Ginsberg refused to equate his Gay identity with criminality. He wrote about his homosexuality in almost every poem that he wrote, most specifically in ‘Many Loves’ (1956) and ‘Please Master’ (1968), his paeans to his errant lover Neal Cassady. Ginsberg’s poems are full of explicit sexual detail and scatological humour, but the inclusion of such details should not be interpreted as a childish attempt to incense the prudish and the square.

    Read More

  • Modernism: The Affluential and the Destructive

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Wasteland” by T.S. Elliot, he expresses the bleak future of America. Elliot describes the world in a way in which all its ambitions and hopes are lost. This loss of the American Dream was a repercussion of materialism and amorality present in humanity.

    Read More

  • "A Supermarket in California"

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...g with many individuals, are alienated and in turn, wish for extreme change and even another life. Ginsberg conveys a vital message that carries through to the year 2010 even more. Materialism does not make a person, it is insignificant. What is imperative is the natural world; beauty, individuality, and real human interactions as these are concepts that make an individual.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Man Without A Country By Kurt Vonnegut

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kurt Vonnegut is not a typical author. Vonnegut is not afraid to talk about subjects that most find socially unacceptable to talk about. Throughout the novel, he speaks his opinion on how he has lost all hope in humanity. How the human race is ignorant and has ruined the earth. Vonnegut states on page one-hundred, “Some people are born deaf, some are born blind or whatever, and this book is about congenitally defective human beings of a sort that is making this whole country and many other parts of the planet go completely haywire nowadays.” In A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut, he tackles subjects that most find to hard to talk about. He covers topics such as religion, the environment, and the government.

    Read More

  • The Beat Generation: A Cultural Revolution

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Firstly, the poets of the Beat Generation were the geniuses behind the success of the movement. Beat poetry began in the 1940's in New York, later blossoming in San Francisco during the 1950's. Post World War II left poets questioning modern politics and culture; they made the battle against social conformity and literary tradition their central focus (“Brief Guide to Beat Poets”). The three most prominent Beat writers were William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac. Burroughs wrote his highly controversial book Naked Lunch while on vacation in Morocco; it was published in 1959, but later banned in 1965 due to its vulgarity. Years later Naked Lunch was included in Time Magazine's "100 Best English Language Novels." In 1957 U.S. customs seized over 500 copies of Ginsberg's novel Howl on grounds of obscenity. These c...

    Read More

  • Summary Of Allen Ginsberg's America

    1849 Words  | 4 Pages

    The crestfallen tone shows that, as a citizen, the government let people down. Ginsberg thinks that all the economic recovery America gained was through human suffering, since the Depression made a rebound after America started marketing weapons to Europe in World War Two. Uncle Sam has made war the national business. How could you be patriotic towards a country with “libraries full of tears” (12), a country whose history is full of

    Read More

  • Madness In Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl'

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    The society around us changes constantly and if we don’t catch up, we can possibly find ourselves in a suffering of our own madness. Ginsberg lived in a society in which homosexuals were unacceptable in which had to be treated with shock therapy. We can easily see why one can be driven to madness because it is hard for one individual to change the minds of many. Over time though we can see the issue being resolved and the acceptance of gays is becoming popular. But that is just the thing though, why must we let society define who we are and how to live? As far as I’m concerned, we are all human, no different from one another. Ginsberg’s poem Howl is important to read because it gives us insight into the cruel side of society in which people are constantly living in. With that knowledge, we can learn be more fair and to treat other people like equals and not opposites. We can take the initiative as individuals to make equality known and freedom

    Read More

More about Analysis of Allen Ginsberg's America

Open Document