Figurative Language In America By Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg was a prominent poet of the Beat Generation, best known for the controversial “Howl.” In his works, “Howl,” “America,” and even “Homework,” which was published far after the relevance of the Beat Generation, he uses literary devices such as repetition, imagery, and point of view to disparage the state of American society and politics, and applaud its opposition.

Like most poets of the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg was anything but conventional. Ginsberg, while he was raised Jewish and embraced his Jewish identity, extensively studied Eastern religions and was a Buddhist (Pacermick). Ginsberg was not only notable for his political views and involvement in a literary movement associated with the counterculture, but for his very

The poem opens with an almost tragic declaration of “America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing,” (Ginsberg) disappointed in life and almost cursing the American dream. The entire first stanza is written in the first person, and the majority of it is written addressing America, the personified United States of America. He clearly expresses his disdain for the current state of things, telling America “Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb. / I don’t feel good don’t bother me” (Ginsberg). At the first stanza’s end, however, the poem’s perspective changes. The speaker declares “It occurs to me that I am America. / I am talking to myself again,” (Ginsberg) and the second stanza begins from the perspective of America, making complaints such as “Asia is rising against me” (Ginsberg). Through this change of perspective, Ginsberg’s satirical personification of America is able to convey his criticisms of America in a manner that is much more compelling to readers. Rather than simply making a statement regarding what he believes is wrong with America, Ginsberg writes it from America’s point of view, for example, “I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underprivileged who live in my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns” (Ginsberg). This line also uses both imagery and metaphor in describing “the millions of underprivileged who

Although he is best known as a poet of the beat generation, and for his 1955 poem, “Howl,” the themes and topics present in his work continue to be discussed today; furthermore, Ginsberg’s influence continued over all his years, especially as he wrote “Homework” in 1980. In his work, utilizations of repetition, point of view, and imagery drive home his views and experiences in a manner that is accessible to readers. He ridicules conformity, American politics, and all he sees wrong in the world. Despite this, behind harsh frustration, he conveys a sense of maintaining hope for the world and those who may similarly be seen as outside of expectations. Ultimately, all that is written makes as much sense and means just as much