Symbolism in the “Howl” Poem by Allen Ginsberg

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Moloch
Madness
Drugs
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The symbolism used in Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl shows strong influences of modernism. It acted as a combination of artistic movements and groupings that appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with the idea of creating new art, essence, and tasks of literature. Modernist writers forced the reader to think through complex new literary forms and styles. The writers who worked at that time experimented with forms, ways, and techniques to give the world a new sound. As a renowned beat poet, Ginsberg was heavily influenced by the modernist movement and used symbolism to create powerful imagery throughout his work. In 1955, Ginsberg’s first poem entitled Howl was published, so officially it can be called the beginning of beat literature, which well reflected the beatniks themselves (Kachua 195). Howl consists of three parts, the first of which is the longest and most famous; the remaining parts and footnotes were written after the first public reading. Howl was a revolution, giving birth to new American poetry with free expression, sexual liberalism, and other values that would later become the cornerstone of the counterculture. Ginsberg uses symbols to represent insanity, drugs, and politics to convey the various problems of society and the oppressive nature, thereby emphasizing the work influenced by modernism. Even though the poem is read as a postmodernist poem, the aim of this paper is to show the influence of modernism, which is opposed by postmodernism, being its antithesis.

Moloch

Allen Ginsberg’s Howl begins with scenes, often linked in relative sentences, that contain both autobiographical and biographical passages from the beat generation. Since the work is based on the author’s experience, there are clear autobiographical influences. He talks about the beatniks themselves and all those whom the author knew as beatniks. In addition, the poem is also permeated with abstract, metaphysical, and religious symbolism. Recurring themes in the work are drugs, jazz music, and insanity against the backdrop of the United States of America in the 1950s (Kachua 195). Poems do not rhyme but are held together by the sound of words; Ginsberg also uses slang words.

In Ginsberg’s poem, the key symbol of the om is Moloch, who appears as a metaphysical and psychic force. In the poem, the word “Moloch” is used 38 times, which refers to a Semitic deity, the worship of which took place through sacrifice. In this case, Moloch represents a society that aggressively criticizes Ginsberg, repeating and repeating this word. The author uses it to emphasize the repressive, conformist society that the speaker opposes.

Throughout the poem, images of a soulless industrial world are evoked by references to automatons and machines, which effectively present Moloch as an all-consuming entity that demands the sacrifice of individual identity and self-expression in favor of thoughtless submission. « They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven!… blind capitals! demonic industries! spectral nations! invincible madhouses!”. The author showed his protest, shouting that he was “Moloch whom I abandon!”. To describe what he saw as an authoritarian government, army, and prison system leading America to its decline, Ginsberg calls Moloch “Moloch is a harsh judge of the people!”// Moloch is an inscrutable prison!” (Ginsberg, section II, line 3). It is, therefore, clear that Moloch acts as a symbol of social control and spiritual death. Ultimately, this illustrates the dehumanizing influence of science in an increasingly mechanized world.

Based on the analysis of the poem and the idea of a speech act, one can say that the first part of the poem is the addressee, the beatniks, including the author himself. At the same time, the speech act represents a description of reality through the prism of the author’s opinion. The second and third parts are two addressees: Moloch (society) and Karl Solomon (like-minded friend). In fiction, the poem is fragmented in terms of moving back and forth in time as the accepted course of the chronological development of events was denied. The authors demonstrated the inner world of one and their disappointment in the outside world. This can also be seen in Ginzberg’s poem, which does not have the usual sequence of scenes. The author considers the society empty, calling it “Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness” (Ginsberg, section II). Ginsberg believes that the American man closed his soul and became “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery!”; “Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless!” (Ginsberg, section II). In this way, the author demonstrates his condemnation of the ideologies that others accept.

Madness

Allen Ginsberg’s Howl uses madness as a symbol to highlight social issues such as fighting poverty and exclusion. Much of this can be seen in his descriptions of the characters in the poem, which often embody traits associated with mental illness or instability. For example, in line 22, Ginsberg states, “who saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated ” (Ginsberg, section I, line 7). That causes a feeling of confusion and madness, which is associated with feelings of being lost or stuck. Using madness as a symbol, Ginsberg can highlight his struggles with poverty and isolation, as well as the struggles of other young people who have faced similar hardships. Thus, madness is a powerful tool in the poem for conveying the hardships many faced in that era.

Drugs

In Allen Ginsberg’s poem, the author uses drugs as symbols to represent the chaotic state of American society and culture in the 1950s, a period marked by government censorship and oppressive attitudes toward young people. Drugs were seen as a means of escape from the moral restrictions imposed on them, providing an opportunity for self-expression and freedom. The author writes that “I saw the best minds of my generation being destroyed by madness, starving naked in hysterics, dragging themselves through the Negro streets at dawn in search of an evil dose” (Ginsberg, section I, lines 1 and 2). Madness and drugs are placed in the same sentence to demonstrate that they are both used – perhaps interchangeably – to convey the chaos of society. Getting a “fix” means taking enough substance to satisfy the craving until the next dose is needed. The frustration of addicts at having to look for drugs inspires the reformer to adopt a negative image. In the poem, Ginsberg uses drugs to express his frustration with a society that has been too harsh and restrictive for young people. For example, in the line “dragging themselves through the narrow streets at down looking for an angry fix”, the author implies not only a drug fix, but also a fix of a society that does not accept a representative of the new generation (Ginsberg, section I, line 2). Therefore, he suggests that drugs can be used to accept or reject society’s repressive conditions, and Ginsberg encourages readers to choose the latter.

As words “submission” and “rebellion” used repeatedly, they carry a strong political message in this poem, as they are associated with drugs. Using drugs as a symbol of rebellion, Ginsberg suggests resisting authority, and social conventions are possible. It reflects the power drugs have in giving people a sense of agency and control over their lives at a time when they would otherwise feel powerless, how, for example, does Karl Solomon feel, who is “madder than I am” (Ginsberg, section III, line 2). Essential, drugs are used as symbols in How to show the possibility of a social revolution that will put an end to “Solitude! Filth! Ugliness!” and the potential for drugs to provide a way to do so (Ginsberg, section II, line 3). Thus, drugs become symbols of hope, freedom, and self-affirmation, which Ginsberg combines into the concept of “dreams” (Ginsberg, section III, line 47). Beatniks often left America to try drugs, speaking out against the state that subdued them “retired to Mexico to cultivate a habit/// who demanded sanity trials… were left with their insanity” (Ginsberg, section I). They sought to maintain their identity through defiance, and drugs became a symbol of this. In this way, drugs contribute to the poem’s overall message of revolution and transformation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, symbolism plays an important role in Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl. The context is the beat generation of America in the middle of the twentieth century, which is described in the first part. Through vivid images and references to mythology and the developing tendencies of the society that created the repressive system, Ginsberg denies this and creates his own rules inspired by modernism. The effect of symbolism makes the reader rebel: all these bleak images presented to us through this particular imagines are designed to inspire a person to search for a new path. For example, the use of Moloch to speak of society’s problems through the connection of the symbolism of Moloch and that of drugs and madness with the help of a vivid analogy express the scale of the problem that whole the generation faced. At the same time, the repetition of words and phrases gives direction to the message. The symbolic elements used in the Howl ultimately provide a clearer understanding of Ginsberg’s poetic vision and approach to modernism.

Works Cited

Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl by Allen Ginsberg.” Poetry Foundation, 1955, Web.

Kachua, Effumbe. “Jazz as a Model for Aesthetics in Diaspora Poetry: A Reading of Edward Brathwaite’s Rights of Passage and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl.” Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 2022, Web.

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Symbolism in the “Howl” Poem by Allen Ginsberg

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