A Howl of Honesty Through a Drug-Fogged Lens As a teenager and young adult, I wandered the streets day and night with my friends contemplating life through a drug-fogged lens. We found ourselves falling in and out of bed, in and out of love, while using just about every mind altering substance we could get our hands on. Having entire weekends talking about the purpose of existence and how we fit into the scheme of things. From this vanilla version of my experience I come to Howl by Allen Ginsberg with a true understanding of his brutal honesty. Ginsberg throws genitals flying in our face with this tantalizing introduction into the mind of a homosexual trapped in the 1950s. The “sensitive bullshit” (Ginsberg, Line 91) that makes us human is …show more content…
The book was banned and the publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti was prosecuted on the basis that the book was obscene. It was the author’s word choice that was the main point of argument for the prosecution and it is that same choice that truly conveys his brutal honesty. Ginsberg uses language to bring the reader into his world. He uses colloquial language mixed with a more academic vocabulary making it easier for all types of people to connect with the poem. Possibly offending the reader, putting them off completely, intriguing them, or actively engaging the senses, the use of words like snatch and balls are the most effective way to portray the raw truth of the life Ginsberg lived. For example line eleven, “with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, alcohol and cock and endless balls,” shows how everything seemed to overlap and get blurry. Particularly when on drugs, the separation of things becomes unclear, life seems to blend all together, and sexual exploration is all around. In addition, to first mention male genitalia the author is taking a huge risk by being honest about his homosexuality. Ginsberg’s continues and alludes to his love for Jack Kerouac in the following line, “incomparable blind streets of shuddering cloud and lightning in the mind leaping toward poles of Canada & Paterson,” this reference is more vague than the previous but …show more content…
The world in his mind has no boundaries but is bound by a society that thinks he’s mad. In the midst of this madness the author clings to reality and structure through perfect grammar and phrasing. The fact that the entire first part of the poem is 78 lines composing one sentence shows that Ginsberg knows how the mechanics of writing works and uses them to his advantage. He is very thoughtful and purposeful with use of punctuation and lack of punctuation throughout the piece. Though the first part only has one period, there are many commas to take a breath and reflect. In the second part the exclamation point conveys the authors anger, disgust, and passion. In the third part there is only one exclamation point to call our focus back to the human face of the poem, “Carl Solomon!” (Line 94) and again this is one long sentence but this time with no definite end. The author fails to end the poem with a period and leaves the last line dangling in the air with hope. When all parts are put together the whole picture becomes