Acceptance Letter

Gina Rubino

March 30, 2017

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Acceptance Letter

The poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg was a desperate call to Americans to stop conforming to the industrial prescribed norms set by the cruel, capitalist government and encourage the acceptance of everyone. Ginsberg was disgusted with the economic and ruling class, who preached consumption and financial stability as the only means to happiness. He shed light on the implausible problems of America and forced everyone to see the world and the people in it for what they truly were. He emphasized that money, machinery, and filthy armies were taking over the best minds of America. The capitalistic society was a cruel entity with the goal of controlling people, imprisoning their minds, and enforcing the norms for society. While some saw the poem as obscene, I believe it had great social importance and encouraged Americans to speak out against the powerful and cruel capitalist society. Howl was a bitter protest against the suppressing capitalist government, who believed conformism, oppression of individuality, and financial success were more beneficial than self-expression and acceptance of others.

While most people were afraid of acknowledging the harsh realities of everyday life in America, Allen Ginsberg publically accepted his struggles and told honest accounts of how life was in the U.S. Howl was written around a time when the world was heavily involved in war and the government was evolved around militarization. This poem was written with a stream of consciousness, which allowed Ginsberg the freedom to express how he truly felt without following a specific poetic structure. Ginsberg’s method of writing expressed his attitude towards honesty and self-expression, even if it went against the predetermined standards of society. Each verse is meant to be read in a single breath. With each ‘inspiration’, Ginsberg hoped to inspire every generation to stand up against the judgmental society. In section II, Ginsberg began almost every line with the word “Moloch”. Being a god of evil and sacrifice, he used Moloch to represent the untrustworthy and filthy capitalist society that promoted money being worthy of sacrifice. Ginsberg started by saying, “Moloch the heavy judger of men!” (68). Ginsberg wanted society to accept each individual, whether they fit the prescribed norms of government or not. He believed it wasn’t the drugs or homosexuality that drove people mad, but the way they were forced to hide it from the judgmental society. He described Moloch as the congress of sorrows (68). Instead of a congress that encouraged individuality and self-expression, they oppressed people for their unique characteristics. They encouraged anonymity and enjoyed collecting the sorrows of those who gave up on self-expression. He said, “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies!” He continued, “Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks!” (68). He compared the anatomy of Moloch to industry and economy which created a disturbing link between self-destruction, money, and industry. The generation that had the best ideologies allowed their identities to be destroyed by capitalist machinery, materialization, and militarization. While Ginsberg called out others for allowing the government to ostracize their ideas, he highlighted his own isolation as well. He said, “Moloch in whom I sit lonely! Moloch in whom I dream Angels! Crazy in Moloch! Cocksucker in Moloch!” (68).