“Underrated or Outdated” The book “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg is a poem that describes much of what Allen Ginsberg finds wrong with society. Allen Ginsberg was an author in the 1950s that has gone through many hardships in life. These include losing many jobs, drug abuse, and mental illness, all of which is used as ammunition in his anti-system gun. The poem itself includes 3 parts, each of which express a different part of his mental understanding of society and its effect on the people he call his own, the “Beatnicks”. He wrote this piece during a time where his life seemed to be growing more and more difficult. It stands as an extremely pure expression of a man’s struggle with his past, and to what extent the society he lives in troubles him. Also, the poem expresses itself in a much more sporadic style, where the conventional forms of poetry are almost entirely left behind. In some aspects, this book can be interpreted as a history lesson in disguise, as it explains and gives life to the struggles the “Beatnicks” fought …show more content…
We’ve built a habit of profiling each other based on external features such as skin color and language. During Ginsberg’s time the U.S. was trying to shake this habit, forcing the existence of rioting and sit-ins. His experience of this social stigma tied to race is extreme compared to modern problems surrounding race. In modern society we’ve learned to accept each other far more easily than during that socially charged time. We very rarely experience the separation and denigration that existed during his time. This is thanks to our changes in technology allowing the globalization and spread of cultures that would otherwise be unknown to us. As humans we have a natural fear for change and Ginsberg was in the heart of it, fighting back a forth against the social stigmas that plagued his society. This is evident in “Howl” with his sporadic thinking and