Howl Allen Ginsberg

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Howl by Allen Ginsberg
The Howl illustrates the social challenges of special groups in the society. The poem is divided into three notable sections (stanzas). The first one talks about the kind of people the poet seeks to highlight. These people consist of individuals who are misfits and outcasts in the society such as homosexuals, drug-addicts, wanderers or homeless people, sex addicts, artists, and poets. The society fails to acknowledge the value of people who appear confused and doomed to fail. The next section discusses what led to these destructive habits. Ginsberg blames some ancient god, Moloch, for their fate. These people perform obscene acts on the streets and are more likely to make poor choices in life. The situation becomes aggravated by suggesting that these people can be found in a psychiatric hospital. Although most of the mentioned characters are in the street, the poet mocks the world by talking about psychological problems and where these people are found in large numbers. The organized plot suggests that the main theme of the poem was salvation and restoration of the current generation in the secular world. Other themes would include religion, drug abuse, and sexual immorality and their impact on the American society.
Moloch is described as the reason why the lives of these people deteriorated. He represents the negative aspects of the America during the Beat Generation. Examples of these destructive elements are the authoritative government, capitalism, discrimination, hatred, wars, and anti-Gay movements.

In fact, the poem is a deliberate rebellion against the vices which ruin the concept of love among people. The political and social regression stated from the first stanza caused the youth to develop vulgar language and behavior which the older generation considered unfathomably disgraceful. The line, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness” (1) reinstates the theme of the poem. Ginsberg seeks to educate the society about the realities of the world and why the world faces social suicide. In addition, the Moloch from the poem is depicted as a child-eater which suggests that the older generation is responsible for the negativity of the current one. They failed to nurture and guide them for the better path in life. In so doing, the children were sacrificed to the world of Moloch. This world depicts a world of drug and alcohol addiction, obscene sexual acts, and violent reactions to authority.
The last section describing Carl Solomon is a quest for salvation developed by Ginsberg. The author says that he is together with the outcast and misfits of the society. The author iterates his solidarity when a person reaches the bottom at the psychiatric hospital and attempts to improve. In essence, a hospital is a form of hell for the drug addicts, sex addicts, homosexuals, and all other people believed to suffer from madness. The world of nightmare described challenges readers to thirst for a better version of existence. In fact, he seeks a worldview of acceptance and love rather than hatred and disapproval. The last piece of the third stanza states, “O victory forget your underwear we’re free” which is a declaration of change and freedom. The activists dream of the world where social healing would lead to a resurrection of people just like how Christ did in the ancient times. Consequently, the poem celebrates the characters of people irrespective of whom and where they are from with a hope of societal development.