“Howl”ing with Words Have you ever wondered how life was in the 1950s? Was it nice and peaceful? Was it violent? Do we have anything similar to it in the present? Allen Ginsberg’s book “Howl” will have some of the answers that you’re looking for. Some people wonder the 1950s is a corrupted time where people don’t know how to be equal to each other. Others wonder that the past is better than how it is in the present. If you think the 1950s is corrupted, we still experience a few of the same issues today. “How so?” people asked, well let me show you what I mean. Who is Allen Ginsberg? Allen is a man from New Jersey where eventually he became one of the founding fathers of the Beat Generation, like his book “Howl” (Bio.com). Allen …show more content…
Why is it so chaotic? Just be patient and you’ll find out. So looking at this part, you’ll notice that it feels like you’re walking around the actual place at this certain time period. Oh gosh, look at those people “dragging themselves through the Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix” (Line 2). So much violence in the olden days, thank goodness those people can’t see us or else we would be in a heck of trouble. If we think about it, we still have violence around the world if you read the newspaper or watch the news. Unlike now, the people in the olden days won’t really care about the news, so thank goodness this new generation has at least some care in this world. Do you hear all that noise? Do you hear all of “the machinery of night” (Line 3)? I know it’s also busy right now, but imagine all the sleepless nights that people are getting over here. Those poor things. Speaking of poor things, look at the “poverty and tatters and hollowed-eyed” (Line 4) people over there. Can’t you believe we still experience that in the now? Even the kids at school, they “passed through universities” (Line 6) which is good, but not when they’re “expelled from the academies [for being] crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull” (Line 7). Don’t be surprised that you’re seeing this for the first time of your life. Some people in school are druggies and they do crazy stuff in …show more content…
Allen Ginsberg is apparently writing this to someone named Carl Solomon. No one knows who he is but apparently it looks like a close friend of his. Notice that he uses a lot of “I’m with you” in the lines? This proves that Allen himself is caring enough to help someone out. It’s like how “great writers on the same dreadful typewriter” (Line 99) they finish and fail together. They share the same ideas and they work together to put those 2 ideas together, and create something out of it. Another thing that I saw that shows people working together is when “together singing the final stanzas of the Internationale” (Line 109). Talk about teamwork, we finally see something that’s good in this story. Thank goodness! This is what you called ‘resolving’ these problems. This is what people in the olden days should be doing instead of leaving everyone and everything to rot. Consider ourselves lucky that a lot of people here in the present, actually care about others. Why you think we have different organizations, communities, clubs, and groups that are involved into a lot of volunteer work for the environment? It’s sad how some other people still don’t see it like this. That’s where Allen’s footnote comes to place. There’s a lot of “holy!” to be seen here. What is he trying to get to call everything ‘holy’? Look at that, he named every body part, drugs, and even other political things ‘holy’. It looks
Rosenthal, M.L. "Poet of the New Violence". On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. Ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984. 29-31.
Throughout the words and the lives of the Beat Generation, one theme is apparent: America, everywhere from Allen Ginsberg’s “America,” to Jack Kerouac’s love for Thomas Wolfe. Although the views of America differ, they all find some reason to focus in on this land. Ginsberg, in his poem “America,” makes a point that not many of us can see as obvious: “It occurs to me that I am America. I am talking to myself again.” Each and every one of us make up America, and when we complain about something that is wrong, we are complaining about ourselves. Being raised by his mother as a Communist, and being homosexual, Ginsberg found many things wrong with America, and he does his fare share of complaining, but at the end he decides, “America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.” Ginsberg didn’t want to sit and watch everything go wrong. He was going to do something, despite the fact that he was not the ideal American.
(Goldberg, 2004) The 1950’s was a decade of fear, but it was fear that came with hope that peace and prosperity should never be taken from the people again. A shift from families crowding around their radio trying to hear the news, they began sitting down in front of their television watching their favorite shows that only aired once a week on either CBS, ABC, or NBC. Richard Powers said, "There have always been inter-family conflicts between parents and their adolescent children, but this cultural division was larger.” (Powers) he went on to say “A significant proportion of the adult generation disapproved of the values and lifestyle of the teens, and was doing something about it, including setting new rules, restrictions and prohibitions.” (Powers). This quote ties directly into the movie. This decade had many ups and many downs. It launched the
From the outside, the 1950’s was a great time for America. Society revolved around the idea of America being a middle-class nation. Americans worshipped conformity, and materialism satisfied the need to conform. However, the prosperity of materialistic America hid the growing, numerous problems. Dissent in any way was not tolerated; all injustice was stifled by a fear of difference. In “Fifties Society,” Alan Brinkley discusses the truth of the era; that the fear of nonconformity was hidden by the seemingly prosperous middle-class nation. Brinkley argues the Beat movement and “feminine mystique” show that the people who did not fit in reveal the true colors of 1950’s society.
Since the beginning of time, humans have been changing, developing, and evolving. The 1950s was a fascinating era in American history, and whether its people altered for good or bad is debatable, but one thing is for certain - many drastic changes were made during this time, especially involving teenagers. Juvenile delinquency erupted from the depths of the community, and countless gangs arose. Different genres of music were also emerging. Old perspectives were being replaced with controversial ideas; a lot was about to change.
The 1950’s have received a reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity. This reputation is rightfully given, as with almost every aspect of life people were encouraged to conform to society. Conforming is not necessarily a negative thing for society, and the aspects of which people were encouraged to conform in the 1950’s have both negative and positive connotations.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
Freedom Rides, Vietnam, and Social activism among the youths of America have left the 60’s with a very profound effect on our society. Without question, the decade of the 1960’s was one of the most controversial in American History. Throughout this period of social unrest, anti-war attitudes were gaining prevalence in a peace-loving subculture, and individuals began to question certain aspects of governmental policy and authority. This was the decade of peace and war, optimism and despair, cultural turbulence and frustration.
Stephanie Coontz's essay `What we really miss about the 1950's' is an essay that talks about a poll taken in 1996 by the Knight-Ridder news agency that more Americans preferred 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. Coontz doesn't believe that it is a decade for people to remember fondly about, except for financial reasons and better communication within families. Coontz doesn't believe in it as the best decade because of the votes, the 50's only won by nine percent, and especially not by African Americans. Examples from family and financial issues in the 50's that makes it better than other decades from 20's to 80's. She doesn't believe that the 50's should be taken `literally' because from 50's there were changes in values that caused racism, sexism discrimination against women. Even though the 50's were good, it didn't lead to a better 60, 70, and 80.
The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on a journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson notes the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the optimism during the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing conflict over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also navigates through different themes regarding the decade's different currents of social change; including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the liberation movements. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality involved in the reaction against civil rights, the radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, gay rights, and environmental movements.
The Fifties by David Halberstam is a phenomenal account of one of the most influential decades in the history of the United States of America. From the war in Korea to the opening of E.J. Korvette, it seems as though Halberstam scrutinizes the nineteen fifties with the utmost care and respect. In doing so, he also creates a vivid portrait of American life in the decade. However, Halberstam's writing style is not always straightforward and at times can be confusing, especially to readers without some prior knowledge of the events that took place during the fifties. Though the book may be confusing at times, it is still a marvelous collection of the events that defined the fifties and the decades that followed.
While the materialism of the 20’s faded into the economic depression that followed, and the glow of the 1950’s was dimmed by the onset of communist fever, both decades proved to be successful and iconic in the way that they brought about massive prosperity, and because youth found new ways of expressing themselves and inviting progress. Unfortunately, not all outcomes were good, and both eras triggered an onslaught of racial tension that would continue well into the future.
...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.
The 1950s was a time of divide between people. A time of segregation. Segregation is the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things. Segregation could no longer exist, but it does. It exists in the workplace, neighborhoods, and especially in schools. Kids who have problems with behavior are usually sent to alternative schools and separated from the kids at the regular school. This is not necessarily a negative. The awful part is how the alternative schools receive the leftovers and are forgotten, but we can change this.
Madness is a disease. It’s a disease that can exponentially consume the host and make them lose their minds overnight. Allen Ginsberg, a famous beat poet, was a victim to madness. Under his circumstances, it was a disease that was incurable. Ginsberg, along with the other famous beat poets of his time in the 1950s’, had a remedy to his madness which was what he did best, create poems. In his famous poem, Howl, he vividly and emotionally paints a picture of a horrifying time in his life in which he was consumed and destroyed by madness. In HOWL, it is clear that the three parts of Ginsberg’s poem echoes the theme of madness with the use of form, tone, and language which in turn shows us of how our society really is