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Literary theory and criticism: America BY ALLEN GINSBERGThe poem America talks about the hard times after the second world war. It discusses such issues as the political unrests during this time and calls for a positive change. The poem’s style is a type of free verse; which Ginsberg wants to represent the unorganized messiness in American society during this time.
Literary theory in this poem focuses on power and the ability to make choices. There are many different interpretations of this text, with most focusing on the American Dream in America. The book focuses on this unreliable concept of nobility through storytelling, which includes its own form of propaganda in a sense.
The literary critic of society, who is often hidden behind the scenes and never shown whether they are a hero or villain, is portrayed as someone with power-making choices that might result in both sides being wrong in some way.
America has been widely used as a metaphor for revolution throughout history with varying results; it has been seen as both a savior and an enemy depending on what kind of revolution was taking place at the time. Ginsberg makes use of this by adding the idea that the government is able to use the media to control not only its own citizens, but how it is viewed outside of its own borders. In a foreign country, America is often seen as a savior. In America, however, it is seen as controlling and oppressive. As much as the speaker seems to want to take some sort of stand against these claims in this poem, he cannot. The fact that he says that America “gave me no dreams” and “no help” shows how he feels about his homeland. He wants change, but also has seemingly accepted that change cannot be made because of what has happened in the past; instead it must be accepted and move on from there.
The first stanza talks about the terrible and harsh things that Americans were faced with during the time, including violence and death. The second stanza talks about how Ginsberg doesn’t want America to be like it was before. In his opinion, what America needs are “new eyes” with an “innocent vision”. He mentions that he would like for there not to be anymore politicians or plutocrats who take control of people’s lives. This stanza can be interpreted as a call for a change in government and what it means to be considered as an American.
The third stanza talks about other countries and how America should not care about everyone else. He says that he wants America to “leave the others alone” and not be concerned with the other countries and their issues. The fourth stanza mentions that Ginsberg wants the crowd of people to become peaceful. He wants them to stop fighting each other and become peaceful people, “who are happy in their ignorance”. This stanza can be interpreted as advice or a call for hope.
The poem and Allen Ginsberg have both received a lot of criticism. Critics, who were on the left, have said that the poem did not contribute anything positive to society. While some critics, who were on the right, love the poem’s aggressive style and message and are dedicated to keeping it alive. Another criticism of America is that it does not follow a typical pattern of meter or rhyme scheme; however Ginsberg’s style was displayed in his other poems as well.
“America” is a poem Ginsberg wrote in December 1948, when he and Gary Snyder were driving from Merrimack Street in New York City to their new home at Corinna, which is on the Hudson River in Croton-on-Hudson. On the way, Ginsberg writes about how the cold weather has affected his windpipe. He claims that this has caused him to cough and vomit due to his lungs being as dry as tinder without lubrication [1]. “Wherefore Art Thou America?” was written by Allen Ginsberg on December 5, 1948. The poem was published for the first time in “Arion” on October 30, 1949.
A final criticism of America was that it was unorganized and that you could not understand what Ginsberg was talking about since he used obscure terms and short phrases throughout the entire poem.
However, Ginsberg said that this was the symbolization of how he thought America was during the 1950s. He said that people were unaware of what was happening around them.
This could lead some to believe that this poem would not have received as much criticism if it did not have such a strong message and political undertone to it.
A positive aspect of this poem is that it has a strong message: one that urges the people to move together in order for change to occur. For example, in stanza three he says “don’t give me that individual crap.” This could also be interpreted as meaning don’t separate from each other, because we are stronger when we work together.
The poem makes use of metaphors, as Ginsberg creates a picture in the reader’s mind. The first stanza is an example of a metaphor. Ginsberg compares the speaker to a “savage beast” that is “beaten and petted out of shape” later on in life, just as the speaker had been in his youth. The poem revolves around themes of love, patriotism, and spirituality. The first stanza is an example of this, as he talks about how the “fierce winter” is “nursing at its breast a baby black bomb”.
In America by Allen Ginsberg, the speaker reflects on his childhood to adult life in America. The speaker is often described in multiple ways throughout the poem, notably as a “boy”, a “man”, and now as an “old man”. In this poem, Ginsberg uses the concept of self-identity to create different personas. Recall that identity changes are often androgynous, making this metaphor particularly relevant. The speaker is also frequently referred to using Ginsberg’s pet name, “Klootch”. An example of this occurs in stanza 3 when the speaker says he remembers his father calling him “”Klootch””. This act makes him feel nostalgic for his childhood, making it apparent that he perceives his adult life as being very dull.
He wants the poem to seamlessly flow together. He also wishes for it to have a mixture of feelings and ideas; some of these feelings include anger, hope and peace (Bertens). Ginsberg wants the reader to be able to understand what he is trying to say through his use of figurative language.
America by Allen Ginsberg there seem to be two major themes. The first theme is violence and death were major things Americans were faced with during this time period after World War II. The second theme is that Ginsberg wants America to be a utopia. Many of the poems Ginsberg wrote were personal critiques on modern society, but “America” is more general. In this poem, Ginsberg writes that he wants America to be a utopia and he feels that he can help make it so. The speaker wants America to have equality in all areas: economic, political, and social. He feels that the American government has taken too much power from the people in recent past years, making things much easier for them to do wrong. In addition, Ginsberg wishes America had better health care and free education.
The first theme, violence and death, is described in the first stanza. In this stanza Ginsberg describes the issues Americans were faced with after World War II including death and the draft. “I’ve seen 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” [2]. This quote is saying because of all this violence in America many people lost their minds and became homeless. These people needed drugs to help calm them down so they could function normally through each day.
In order to achieve utopia, Ginsberg believes in a system of strict political participation. Ginsberg advocates for the United States government to be more democratic. He believes that if citizens were more involved in their government, they would have a better society. The speaker asks the reader to try to make America a utopia, using Ginsberg’s poem as example for people’s participation in American politics and the American way of life.
Works Cited
“America By Allen Ginsberg | Poetry Foundation”. Poetry Foundation, 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49305/america-56d22b41f119f. Accessed 18 Apr 2022.
Bertens, Hans. Literary theory: The basics. Routledge, 2012.
