The poem Howl by Allan Ginsberg was published in the 1950s and it brings out a lot of the concerns that was happening at that time. He brings in a lot of the unspoken themes that sometimes are not even talked about to this day. Taboo topics such as freedom, mental health, and madness and disorder are presented; which simultaneously self and other is displayed because it shows what is important to the author but it also shows how he demands change.
One theme that is heavily presented in Howl by Allan Ginsberg would be freedom vs. confinement. New York City in the 50s was known to be very invested in crime from murders to drug dealing, and this poem portrays disarray. It would be freedom because of the many crimes that were going on and what seemingly was known to be a very lenient society. Ginsberg states people are “not safe I am not safe, and now you’re really in the total animal soup of time” (Ginsberg, I) because there was so much going on. It was such a bizarre time because many people were doing drugs and they were able to get away with it. In spite of this physical freedom, there were a lot of mental imprisonment because of the lack of knowledge of mental health. Ginsberg expresses this by saying “madhouse with shaven heads and harlequin speech of suicide, demanding instantaneous lobotomy…of insulin Metrazol electricity hydrotherapy psychotherapy occupational therapy pingpong & amnesia” (Ginsberg, I) which shows the mental confinement. There were always suicide’s left and right because no one knew what to do with themselves. The treatments did not help anyone at all because they were thought of to fix them right away. In reality, fixing your mental health takes a lot of time and patience. The idea of freedom physically, but confinement mentally shows why everything is in such disorganization and a lot of chaos. It connects because people never knew what to do with themselves and they took that out physically. This theme would present the idea of other because he is clearly showing concern for the well being of society the treatments were not good and everything has gone rogue at the time. The treatments that were being given were treatments such as electroshock therapy. Ginsberg clearly sees that there is a lot of people that do almost whatever they please due to the fact that they are mentally ill. They find these short fixes in order to make themselves feel better.
Mental health which can be expressed through his language and concern in Howl by Allan Ginsberg. In this sense the poverty would translate to the mental illness that was shown in the people. Ginsberg elaborates this idea by saying, “who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg, who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm” (Ginsberg, I). The poverty that people were experiencing caused a strain in one’s mental health made it a lot harder for( them to find any motivation. The stigma that surrounds mental health prevented the general public from getting help. A lot of the people “fell on their knees in hopeless cathedrals praying for each other’s salvation and light” (Ginsberg, I). Many people looked to their religion in order to find themselves again which was known to be their “saviour”. This would present the theme of self and other because of the fact that he brings light to a lot of these issues that were not spoken about beforehand. Many people lost themselves in these situations and they do not really know how to help themselves. It would be other because he clearly shows that he thinks a higher power will save them all and that they just have to wait.
Howl by Allan Ginsberg presents a theme of madness and disorder throughout the whole entire poem. Ginsberg uses a disorganized manner to showcase how uncontrolled everything was. This is examined when Ginsberg says “Moloch in whom I dream Angels! Crazy in Moloch! Cocksucker in Moloch! Lacklove and manless in Moloch!” (Ginsberg, II). Moloch was a symbolism of many things, greed, capitalism, and everything wrong with society at the time. Ginsberg says three very different things about Moloch which also represents society at the time, it could have been the best time or the worst time depending on the way that you look at it. He goes from praising Moloch to showing absolute hatred for it. The theme of madness is also emphasized when Ginsberg states “their own wild cooking pederasty and intoxication, who howled on their knees in the subway and were dragged off the roof waving genitals and manuscripts” (Ginsberg, I). This is exemplifying more madness in itself because of the fact that it seems like no one can be able to control anything that is happening to anyone from crimes to actions to themselves. This would express Ginsberg’s concerns because of the fact that it is out of order and there is not really anything he can do about it besides talk about it and hope that it gets more attention. This would express the idea of other because he expresses how concerned he is with everything and this poem is a cry for help and saying “this is what happened” and “we need to fix this”.
Throughout the poem, Ginsberg expresses concern for the climate of the time. He uses religion to give people a pathway and almost a savior for them so that they can believe that things will get better. Many people lost a lot of hope because they were all going through their own problems and had much more to worry about, Ginsberg portrays that but also tries to convince them that there is a way out of this mess. By Ginsberg expressing his concern and him inputting religion it shows his idea of self and other.
