Madness In Howl By Ginsberg Analysis

Reader’s Responses

Reader’s Response 1 – Madness in Howl by Allen Ginsberg

The Scream (1893) by the expressionist painter Edvard Munch was painted at the end of the nineteenth century during a unique transitional period in European art history. Artists, like Munch and Van Gogh, started to use art to express inner thoughts, feelings and emotions rather than painting subjects objectively, creating a change in their field because of their rejection of traditional painting methods. The Scream (1893), which resulted from Munch’s paranoïa, expresses emotional crises and the anxiety of modern men. In the 1950’s, more then half a century after, the Beat Generation created a literary movement to express the spiritual quest and exploration of the

When reading books I often make connections to song(s) I enjoy listening to. Songs and novels often cover and discuss similar themes, which are recurrent in literary works. In both types of artistic works, the authors employed the road as a mean for an escape. This absorption of the road by the characters is a mean for them to find what they are seeking for. In Kerouac’s novel (1957), the road is portrayed as an escapism from society to find the “it”. This “it” is the ongoing reason of the journey which they will never find. The rejection of standardized society will lead both characters, of the song and of the novel, where one should experience the road and not analyze it. The main focus of the book being on the journey of Dean and Sal is to find the “it” by exploration and experimentation of what the American landscape and its people can offer them. Just like in Fastball’s song (1998), the couple leaves their family behind and gets on the road to an unknown place wherein they will never get old and grey. The goal for the search of something mysterious will fascinate the characters and will push them to continue their journey and seek further West and eventually South. In both stories, this desire to escape the ordinary life is what pushes the characters to get on an experiential journey through the United States of America and South America. As mentioned in class, everyone perceives a piece of art in various ways and as a result understands and relates to it differently. My interpretation of the symbol of the road in Fastball’s song (1998) and in Kerouac’s novel (1957) is caused by the emotions and perspectives I encountered when listening to the song and when reading On the