Allen Ginsberg's Howl was exactly as the title suggested; a howl. His protest against capitalism and conformity called into question what it truly meant to be normal. His explicit images of sex, drugs, and violence appalled societies' average readers. Through the chaos, however, something about Howl spoke to me. Today, we live in a world where we scrutinize mental health and, in this state, I found myself empathizing with young Ginsberg and the horror of his experiences.
Ginsberg broke Howl up into three parts. The first was a summary of his experiences; a depiction of a dangerous and frightening world. Part two confronted capitalism and just how much people had to sacrifice to live in such a world. The final section was where Ginsberg enforced his solidarity with Carl Solomon, a close friend from the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric Institute, otherwise known a Rockland. To complete the emotional sequence of the poem, the third movement showed the grace of religion and how it would reunite the two in the end. For the purpose of this essay, I will focus on the first portion of Howl.
Howl began with an introduction of the characters. "I saw the …show more content…
However, an editor spelled the word as ellipsis in another copy of the poem (Poetry Foundation, n.p.). An ellipse is an oval shape used in math studies, whereas an ellipsis refers to the omission of words in a text without changing the meaning represented by three dots (...). Both made sense for Howl's purpose. The oval is oddly shaped but still has some purpose and structure to it, like the way Carl's mind worked. Like the way the Best Minds worked. The omission could refer to the "Incarnate gaps in Time and Space" (line 74), or, in my eyes, drug blackouts, whether those be institutionally or self-induced. Ginsberg made references of Time on numerous occasions, which suggested that the time the Best Minds spent high or intoxicated was purposeful to their
Ginsberg broke Howl up into three parts. The first was a summary of his experiences; a depiction of a dangerous and frightening world. Part two confronted capitalism and just how much people had to sacrifice to live in such a world. The final section was where Ginsberg enforced his solidarity with Carl Solomon, a close friend from the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric Institute, otherwise known a Rockland. To complete the emotional sequence of the poem, the third movement showed the grace of religion and how it would reunite the two in the end. For the purpose of this essay, I will focus on the first portion of Howl.
Howl began with an introduction of the characters. "I saw the …show more content…
However, an editor spelled the word as ellipsis in another copy of the poem (Poetry Foundation, n.p.). An ellipse is an oval shape used in math studies, whereas an ellipsis refers to the omission of words in a text without changing the meaning represented by three dots (...). Both made sense for Howl's purpose. The oval is oddly shaped but still has some purpose and structure to it, like the way Carl's mind worked. Like the way the Best Minds worked. The omission could refer to the "Incarnate gaps in Time and Space" (line 74), or, in my eyes, drug blackouts, whether those be institutionally or self-induced. Ginsberg made references of Time on numerous occasions, which suggested that the time the Best Minds spent high or intoxicated was purposeful to their