The Obscenities In Allen Ginsberg's Howl

With graphic depictions of sexual acts, vivid descriptions of drug use, and deliberate defense of all things mad in his poem, Howl, Allen Ginsberg sent shock waves throughout conservative 1950’s America. He champions the counter-culture Beat generation in the face of oppressive mainstream conformity. As we continue to battle with issues surrounding free speech and upholding “traditional” American ideals today, Ginsberg’s free-verse masterpiece still wields the power to shock and awe its audiences.

The initial shock value of Howl had much to do with the context of the era; it was first published in 1956 in a postwar America. The controversial Korean War had disrupted the nation’s structure, and Americans responded with a firm return to foundational American values. Ginsberg and other Beat writers, such as Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, were

Ferlinghetti trial in San Francisco. City Lights bookstore owner, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, helped Ginsberg publish his poetry and was charged with “willfully and lewdly printing, publishing, and selling obscene writings”. Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to take the case and successfully proved Howl had literary merit and did not solely appeal to “prurient interests” (First Amendment Center). The judge found that the poem, though unconventional, had redeeming social importance. On an almost as controversial note, Ginsberg fiercely rejects capitalism. He writes about those “who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism” and compares the economic system to Moloch in the second part of the poem. It’s evident that Ginsberg despises the institutions and structures that make up the foundation of the country, which is viewed as outrageously unpatriotic and rebellious. Ferlinghetti once said that, it “wasn’t really the four-letter words. It was that it was a direct attack on American society”