"America

By Allen Ginsberg

Analysis

Mayra Jimnez
Keila Bravo
 Allen Ginsberg
"America"
Allen Ginsberg is one of the 20th century's most influential poets,
regarded as a founding father of the Beat Movement and known
for works like "Howl."
Allen Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey,
and eventually became one of the founding fathers of the Beat
Generation with his revolutionary poem "Howl." Ginsberg was a
prolific writer who also championed gay rights and anti-war
movements, protesting the Vietnam War and coining the phrase
"Flower Power." Even with his countercultural background, he
became recognized as one of American's foremost writers and
artistic icons. He died on April 5, 1997, at age 70.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging
themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angel headed hipsters
burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night...
Allen Ginsberg
Time and place of publication

"America" was written in 1956 during Ginsberg's time in

Berkeley, California and was included in the original publication
of "Howl and Other Poems." America was one of the first
widely read literary statements of political unrest in the post-
World War II United States. Themes from the decades previous
wars are prominent such as the nuclear bomb or Asian foreign
policy, yet the poem also seems prescient in its depiction of
national racial unrest and the fight with communism that would
characterize the Cold War foreign policy positions of the United
States in the second half of the 20th century. Ginsberg was
always one of the most politically active members of the Beat
Poets and America is both an introduction to Ginsbergs
political thought as well as a broad representation of views he
would hold throughout his life.
 Characters
America is a largely political work, with much of the poem consisting
of various accusations against the United States (America) , its
government, and its citizens. Ginsberg uses sarcasm to accuse
America of attempting to divert responsibility for the Cold War
("America you don't want to go to war/ it's them bad Russians / Them
Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. / And them Russians"),
and makes numerous references to both leftist and anarchist political
movements and figures (including Sacco and Vanzetti, the Scottsboro
Boys and the Wobblies). Ginsberg's dissatisfaction, however, is tinged
with optimism and hope, as exemplified by phrases like "When will
you end the human war?" (as opposed to "why don't you...?").
Setting
"America," was a lament for a country that had lost its way. In "America,"
Ginsberg would hold a conversation with his home country that he feels
has abandoned its values of freedom and free thought in favor of a
militaristic security state that punishes its artists, free spirits, and
political radicals to exact a norm that glorifies unrestrained capitalism,
racism, and war. Ginsberg uses multiple forms, all while furthering his
experiment with the long line. One of the most original forms he chose to
use was the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament in which prophets,
having visions from God, warned the people of Israel of their wayward
faith and foretold of destruction and captivity. In the same way, Ginsberg
prophesies and condemns the modernity of "America," and predicts a
spiritual and social destruction
Point of view
The poem is filled with cultural and political references as well as
references to incidents and events in Ginsberg's own life as well as the lives
of his friends and fellow Beat writers. Ginsberg used the "long line" as his
creative foundation, experimenting and riffing on rhythm and meter in one
long line that would be "all held together within the elastic of the
breath...."The poem is in the first person and reads much like a monologue.
It is presented in a somewhat rambling, stream of consciousness format.
America is also an intensely personal poem, making references to Ginsberg's
use of marijuana and his homosexuality, as well as fellow Beat writer
William S. Burroughs. There is considerable reference to the alienation
Ginsberg felt as a result of the culture of the McCarthy era combined with
the values implied in the burgeoning suburbia. The longest line in the poem
is a sentimental description of a Communist meeting his mother took him to
when he was a child, ending abruptly with the ironic pronouncement
"Everybody must have been a spy." .
 Conflicts
The poem start Ginsberg's conversation with this personified America. He is partly dissatisfied with the
militarism of the country and he tells America to "go fuck yourself with your atom bomb" (5). He wants to stop
the conversation before it even starts, making excuses that he doesn't want to be bothered with such a
conversation (ignoring that he was the one who started it) and declaring that he won't write until "I'm in my
right mind" (7). But as he noted before, he will never be in his right mind. He cannot stand his mind.

The stanza then turns into a kind of angry lament. These lines make America seem like a lost lover, someone
that Ginsberg once loved and saw great promise and potential in; it was a potential for salvation. Ginsberg is
perhaps remembering the great promise that America offered his own family as immigrant to the land. He asks
when America will once again become the land that it once promised to be. When will it become "angelic" (8),
when will it see the death and destruction that it has caused, when will it understand that its own political
oppression is greater than the political oppression of the "Trotskyites" (communists) that it denounces and goes
to war with (11)? Ginsberg laments that the libraries of America, representing the potential of free information
and free expression, are "full of tears" (12), and he denounces the corporatism of American life symbolized by
"the supermarket" and how those with "good looks" are given easy entry into American wealth .
As the poem begins to close, Ginsberg continues his rant on America's discriminatory attitudes, it's unthinking
patriotism, and it's unjust treatment of minority racial and political groups. Yet, in these lines, Ginsberg moves
from an angry tone to a biting sarcasm. He moves his conversation from an attack on a personified country to a
sarcastic attack on the citizens of the actual country. He begins with trying to imitate American colloquial
speech, an indicator that he's mocking the uninformed and uneducated who would blindly follow a blind
patriotism. The antagonists, Ginsberg says, are "Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them
Russian
 Theme and message
DISSATISFACTION
When a poem begins with a speaker declaring "now I'm nothing," you know you're in for a heapin' helpin' of some good ol' dissatisfaction. In fact, reading this poem is a
lot like listening to that Rolling Stones record. Let's face it, wherever the speaker looksincluding in the mirrorhe sees things that he wants to change. He's just not
satisfied with the status quo. His desire to change his country is really what propels "America." In that way, then, being dissatisfied can be a good thing, since it allows
Ginsberg's speaker to make a push for a better world.
MADNESS
Just drive you crazy some times? And not in that fun Britney Spears sorta way? The speaker of "America" is definitely not having as much fun as Brit is in that song. In
fact, he's so bothered by the problems that he sees in his country that he struggles with his own hold on sanity. And in a world of atom bombs and unjust persecutions,
what does it mean to be sane anyway? Maybe all it takes to be labeled insane is to be sane in an insane world. That's just one of the big picture questions our speaker is
dealing with.
SOCIETY AND CLASS
On the surface of things, America is a country without classes. According to the story of the American dream, people can become just as wealthy and prosperous as they
want to be, provided that they work hard enough. Think about that idea for a minute, though. Is it really true? Unlike the country America, the poem "America" is all
about raising class-consciousness and championing social underdogs. The poem's speaker wants to help those who might get stepped on, or over, by the more successful
members of society. He's like a hall monitor, making sure no bullying gets done on his watch. In this case, though, he's got his eye on the whole country, not just one
school.
POLITICS
Maybe you know a political junkyyou know, the kind of person who devours blogs for breakfast, followed by a steady diet of cable news. Heck, some people go so far as
to voluntarily watch congressional proceedings on C-Span. Well, even if you don't know someone like this personally, you can at least say that you've met the speaker
from Allen Ginsberg's "America." Much like Ginsberg himself, this guy is majorly plugged in, into both the goings-on at home and abroad. And, like most political junkies,
this guy has an opinion about absolutely all of it.

VISIONS OF AMERICA

When reading Allen Ginsberg's "America," it's helpful to see the speaker not as some ranting lunatic, but (and stay with us here) as an artist, painting a national
landscape. As he details his complaints about the country, and what he'd like to change, you can get a clear of sense of the way he sees the country. What would end up
in this painting? Atom bombs? Exploited workers? Victims of racial prejudice? That weird blue dog that was so popular a while back? Okay, probably not the dog. But all
the other details that Ginsberg's speaker includes in the poem combine to represent his vision of the country. It's not a particularly upbeat vision, but, as we'll see, there
is hope for something better.
CLIMAX
As the poem begins to close, Ginsberg continues his rant on America's discriminatory attitudes, it's unthinking patriotism,
and it's unjust treatment of minority racial and political groups. Yet, in these lines, Ginsberg moves from an angry tone to a
biting sarcasm. He moves his conversation from an attack on a personified country to a sarcastic attack on the citizens of
the actual country. He begins with trying to imitate American colloquial speech, an indicator that he's mocking the
uninformed and uneducated who would blindly follow a blind patriotism. The antagonists, Ginsberg says, are "Them Russians
them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians"
Ginsberg mocks the misdirected fear of those that choose not to learn and not to think for themselves about the political
and social state of their country. Those uneducated persons can think only that Russia, and therefore all communist and
socialist sympathizers, wants to steal the American way of life. Ginsberg tries to point out the absurdity of such thought just
as he is trying to point out that the American way of life is bankrupt to begin with and not worth stealing. His most
devastating blow to American discrimination comes in lines 85 and 86: "That no good. Ugh. Him make Indians learn read.
Him need big black / niggers. Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help."

These lines function on several levels. First, Ginsberg continues his mockery of American ignorance by continuing to use
forms of colloquial speech. He uses wrong pronouns and incorrect verb tenses, suggesting the ludicrousness of the populist
fears of people who have not even learned to read correctly. The closing lines of the poem abandon the sarcasm and playful
language of the previous lines. Ginsberg sets a more "serious" tone for the end by telling America upfront that "this is quite
serious". He is almost in disbelief over all that he has just accused the country of. The final four lines are Ginsberg's
statement of action. He tells both the country and the reader that it's time for him to "get right down to the job
Instead, he makes a final statement that is both a statement of his difference and a statement of his desire to work towards
a better America. "America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel." Putting one's shoulder to the wheel is an expression
of hard work and labor. Yet this is contrasted by Ginsberg's use of the word queer, a word that then denoted softness and an
effeminate style. Ginsberg suggests that he will prove that even the outcasts, the weak, and the effeminate can affect
change, a statement that would prove to be quite true in the coming decade
Figurative language
Allen Ginsberg's "America" is an epic rant, filled with big questions and
unshakable frustrations that will remind you of the way you felt the last
time you bumped into politics. Let's face it. More often than not, when
people talk about the way this country is run, it ends up in a shouting
match, or worse. That's why at our Thanksgiving, we're always sure to
assign "table topics" to steer clear of political fights at the dinner table.
Example: "Almond Joy is a vastly superior candy bar to Bounty. Discuss."
(Although that can get pretty heated, too.)
Critical Approaches to Literature

http://home.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/spring97/litcrit.html

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