"Howl" was written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and is probably the most important, most discussed and one of the best known poems of the 20th century. Even its first public reading represents one of the major events on modern literary history (Gaughan 124). Ginsberg was intensely influenced by people and events that surrounded him when writing "Howl".
"Howl" is in a way what its title says: A howl of a young man that is disgusted by the culture he finds himself in. Ginsberg provided a counter culture, in circles of like-minded friends. They framed the anger of a whole generation in their literature and formed a rebellious movement, the so called Beat Movement (“Beat writers” 39). When "Howl" was published a fierce discussion started because the poem was different from the common poetry of the 1950s concerning the content, the form and the language. "Howl" was also adapted in a 2010 experimental movie by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, which shows there is still an interest and a fascination for Ginsberg’s poem, maybe because the topic Ginsberg howls about is still relevant (Epstein).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Interpretation and Analysis
2.1. The speaker
2.2. The style
2.3. Section I
2.4. Section II
2.5. Section III
3. The Beat Generation
4. Howl’s adaption in other media
5. Current Relevance of Howl
Objectives and Themes
This work interprets Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl in relation to its speaker, style, three sections and Beat Generation context. It explores how the poem expresses the experiences and values of its generation, and considers its adaptation to film and its continuing relevance.
- The relationship between Ginsberg and the poem’s speaker
- Language, imagery, repetition and poetic form
- The subjects and symbols of the poem’s three sections
- The Beat Generation and 1950s American society
- The 2010 film adaptation and the poem’s subsequent relevance
Excerpt from the Book
2.3. Section I
The first part is the longest and includes line one to 78. It mainly describes “the best minds” of the speakers generation that are said to be “destroyed by madness” (Ginsberg 1) in the first verse. Those “best minds” are Ginsberg himself and other befriended beat writers, as he describes what kind of people and whom in particular he counts in and what those people did. Most of the verses of the first section begin with “who” and deliver a detailed description. The anaphora of the word “who” is characteristic for the first section.
Concerning the tone of this first section terms of the word groups “light” and “darkness” define the atmosphere of the first sections. There are many terms like “illuminated” (Ginsberg 5) or whole sections, like the accumulation of “neon blinking traffic light, sun and moon” (12) that contrast either indirectly with terms like “darkness” (49) or “night after night” (10) or directly, antithetic as in verse 15: “who sank all night in submarine light”. This Contrast reflects the converse feelings of Ginsberg and his friends, the Beat writers, They felt oppressed on the one side and on the other they were in a state of vision and ecstasy. Another word group, namely the one of “fire” also attracts the reader. “[F]iretrucks” (57) and people “who were burned alive” (56) foreshadow the theme of the second section where the key word was inspired by an ancient false god to whom fire sacrifices were given.
The “best minds” of the first verse are - different from a general opinion back in 1955 – madmen in a state of vision or ecstasy, “who [are] hallucinating” (Ginsberg 6) or people in psychiatric institutions “who were given [. . .] electricity hydrotherapy psychotherapy occupational therapy pingpong and amnesia” (67). They are drug addicts “who ate fire in paint hotels or drunk turpentine” (10) or “who got busted [. . .] with a belt of marijuana” (9). People who commit suicide, or at least have a try of doing so or just dream of it, “who cut their wrists three times successively unsuccessfully” (55) form one more group of people that are the speakers “best minds”. Ginsberg also mentions homosexuals, “who let themselves be fucked in the ass” (36) or just people that live out their sexuality in a very open way, “who copulated ecstatic and insatiate” (41). Another group of people presented in the poem are political dissidents “who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism” (31) and “who distributed Supercommunist pamphlets” (32). Ginsberg also gives his attention to poets “who scribbled all night rocking and rolling” (51). But he also referrers to himself, specific persons, his friends and other poets. For example in verse 7 where Ginsberg writes about his personal experience of being “expelled from academis for crazy & publishing obscene odes”. An example for a specific person he writes about provides verse 57 where he displays the experience of Tuli Kupferberg a close friend (Raskin 135). Ginsberg even gives the hint, that he did not invent this image of the man “who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened”. The first section could be summarized as the following: The speaker and his friends are the greatest minds and they all went insane. Concerning the “best minds” it becomes obvious that the speaker’s philosophy and world view differs strongly from the average 1950s American: Those best minds are social outcasts.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: Introduces Ginsberg’s background, the circumstances surrounding Howl and its connection to the Beat Movement.
2. Interpretation and Analysis: Examines the poem’s speaker and style before interpreting each of its three sections, including their imagery, recurring phrases and themes.
3. The Beat Generation: Places the Beat writers’ countercultural attitudes and literary practices in the social and political context of 1950s America.
4. Howl’s adaption in other media: Discusses the four narrative strands of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s 2010 film Howl.
5. Current Relevance of Howl: Considers the poem’s relevance to later concerns about fear, sexuality and obscenity, including a proposed radio reading.
Keywords
Allen Ginsberg, Howl, Beat Generation, Beat poetry, literary analysis, poetic speaker, anaphora, Moloch, madness, counterculture, obscenity, film adaptation, American society
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It is an interpretation of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and an exploration of the poem’s cultural context and later relevance.
What are its central themes?
The work examines poetic voice and style, madness, social exclusion, rebellion, sexuality and the values of the Beat Generation.
What is the primary aim of the analysis?
It aims to explain how Howl’s form, imagery and three sections express the experiences and concerns associated with Ginsberg and his generation.
What method does the author use?
The author uses literary interpretation and close reading, supported by biographical context and published critical sources.
What does the main analysis cover?
It considers the relationship between author and speaker, the poem’s stylistic devices and the distinct focus of each of its three sections.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Howl, Allen Ginsberg, Beat Generation, poetic style, anaphora, madness, Moloch and counterculture.
How does the analysis approach the figure of Moloch?
It examines Moloch as a recurring figure in the poem’s second section and relates its imagery to the social values Ginsberg rejected.
What does the work say about the film adaptation?
It describes the 2010 film’s four narrative strands, including a reenacted interview, the obscenity case, a public reading and animated interpretations of the poem’s imagery.
Why does the work discuss the Beat Generation?
It connects the poem to the Beat writers’ literary practices and their responses to the dominant culture of 1950s America.
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- Caroline Piontek (Autor:in), 2014, Analysis of the poem "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/282770
