In the article, “How I Hear ‘Howl’”, George Bowering explains what he thinks Moloch represents, “All thru the poem, heaven and eternity are in sight, are being called upon, or bitterly regretted, so that a cynical second best stands as an ironic refuge from the world of present Moloch”. Another symbol in the poem is Moloch, which is a false idol that people worshiped and sacrificed their children to. The speaker is indicating that people are not able to reach an inner vision, which tells the reader that society is not in their right mind.
In this quote, people not being in the right mind, doing drugs, being desperate, and acting like animals are being implied. Allen Ginsberg simply puts his generation as, “Who chained themselves to subways for the endless / ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine / until the noise of wheels and children brought / them down shuddering mouth-wracked and / battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance / in the drear light of zoo” (Ginsberg 10). Ginsberg goes on to say that his age group does not behave as normal people would. In part one of “Howl”, one symbol being presented is the best minds of his generation. Allen Ginsberg uses symbols to demonstrate madness for his generation and American society.
0 kommentar(er)
