Howl

            The word howl means to wail, scream, or cry.  Allen Ginsberg uses his poetic lyrics to wail out the obsession that the Beat generation has with the celestial.

            In Part I of Howl Ginsberg introduces whom it is he is referencing throughout this whole poem, and that is the Beat generation.  He opens up saying he, “Saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix”(9).  That right there is a lot to say in the very first sentence of a poem.  Clearly Ginsberg has something he wants to say and wastes no time in saying it.  This opening sentence also shows the obsession of this generation.  They are “destroyed by madness”, “starving hysterical naked”, and “dragging themselves through the streets.  They are doing all of this for the “heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night”.  They are taking drugs in order to reach the celestial or God, they are not taking drugs because of the drugs themselves, they are taking drugs to reach a greater plateau.  Then Ginsberg goes on to explain “the who” even further.  They are the forgotten, the outcasts of the world.  They “passed through universities”, “expelled from the academies”, and “chained themselves to subways”(10). 

            Part II goes on to describe Ginsberg’s idea of America.  He introduces a new character, Moloch.  Moloch is a mythical God that needs blood sacrifices.  Ginsberg sees America as this Machinist society that rejects him and his generations obsession. This can be seen in the lines, “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery”(21).  Since society does not accept his generation, his generation must in turn reject society to continue with this obsession that they have to find the celestial.  It would be a lot easier to go along the normal society, but they will not accept the easier way.  They want to go through the underground, and get dirty. 

            Part III of Howl goes on to talk about the one person that has been able to reject society with the purpose of this greater goal.  This person is Carl Solomon.  Solomon is the person who Ginsberg dedicates this whole poem too.  Ginsberg goes on to say how he is with Solomon in Rockland (24).    He is with Solomon wherever Solomon goes.  Ginsberg idolizes Solomon in a way, and puts Solomon up on a pedestal.  He wants to be around Solomon all of the time, even though it is not physically possible.  It goes on to say how Solomon was able to reject society, because he “felt like a stranger”(24), and “screamed in a straightjacket “(25), not because he was crazy, because he was obsessed with something greater, the celestial.

            Through his poetic lyricism, Ginsberg portrays the obsession with the celestial of the Beat generations.  They were outcasts and outsiders who willingly dedicated their lives to the acquisition of something greater, no matter what the cost was, they were faithful to finding it even if it lead to death.