One of a Kind

Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” has various distinctive and fascinating traits. Seldom do we see an author who has gained so much inspiration from a mentally challenged person that he writes more than a 200-verse poem. Ginsberg, a 20th century poet, dedicates “Howl” to Solomon, a friend whom he met at a mental institution. He was deeply inspired by Solomon, resulting in Part I of “Howl” describing Solomon’s struggle with insanity, and Part II to the Solomon’s life and tragedy. This poem can be viewed as a pessimistic version of Whitman’s “Song of Myself” as Ginsberg condemns America, whereas Whitman endorses America and expresses hope for improvement. Further, the language and sentence structure in the poem is unique. Ginsberg’s poem has a stream of consciousness writing and has designed every sentence to be spoken in a single breath. Lastly, Ginsberg’s sexuality and personality affects his style of writing. His writing is in a predominant homosexual male point of view, and maintains a sexist attitude stating that women are there for sex, for children, and to be a kind of anchor for men to the "real world."  Hence, there are many interesting and unique aspects to the poem “Howl,” such as Ginsberg’s source of inspiration, unique sentence structure, and the language that foils his personality.

Author: Aditya Goel