Theme of Madness in Howl
Introduction
Howl is considered as one of the greatest creations of Allen Ginsburg and the poem is considered as the poem of Counter - Culture Movement of America. It is based on his personal experience and inner observation and the faulty society of America. In this poem Ginsburg gives the idea of madness, addiction, sexuality, power, religious connections, sorrows, pathos, freedom, confinement and norms of the society. Overall, we can say the poet presents perspectives on America, criticizing conformity and outdated social norms, aiming to shock the readership by describing parts of society which they usually reject, those who challenge these norms and rebel against them.
Theme of Madness
In 'Howl', madness is relative and the poem shows madness to be a kind of elevated state filled with hallucinations and visions. Generally madness was close to Ginsberg's heart. The poem treats hospitals and doctors with suspicion, while visions and hallucinations are signs of a divine connection. The poem contains a lot of historical references to psychiatric hospital that seem straight out of the Jack Nicholson movie named "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
The poem begins with an image of the speaker's "mad" friends as "starving hysterical naked".
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked ".
In the line 8, we have found their madness. The line expresses paranoia and hysteria. They are cramped up in a tiny room, and they imagine they hear something called "the Terror" on the other side of the wall. They tell a story of the wall. They perform irrational actions like burning their money.
"Who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear,burning their money
in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror through the wall".
The lines 65-72 are the most detailed discussion of mental illness in the first section. They tell a story of people who are declared insane, who demand an operation called a "lobotomy" in which a part of brain is removed, and who instead get sent to a mental hospital where they receive a variety of other treatments. The passage concludes with a cryptic reference to Ginsberg's mother, who suffered from mental illness.
He shows the idea of spirit. He used the word "shade" which indicates a ghost or spirit. Ginsberg,s mother had died at this point, but the speaker sees in creepy connection between his mother and Solomon. For the speaker, its a distressing case of history repeating itself.
"I am with you in Rockland
where you imitate the shadow of my mother".
Solomon and Ginsberg both spent time at a psychiatric hospital together and give the impression that Solomon was much more unstable than Ginsberg. He thinks that his friend doesn't belong in a "madhouse" in part because it resembles a prison or military facility, which is "armed". Solomon thinks himself as a political dissident.
"I am with you in Rockland where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha".
Drugs, in particular, is an integral part of the lives and work of many Beat writers, including Allen Ginsberg. But, what are drugs? First, drugs is a term that refers to a group of illegal substances. Second, "drugs is a material agent, either a mythical or not , which is not able to exert psychoactive effects". Drug use, in this context is viewed as a form of madness : the kind of voluntary madness induced by chemical substances. The experimentation that many of Beat writers did with drugs led to a kind of mental instability and a never ending search of sensations.
Jack Kerouac's spontaneous prose then largely influenced Allen Ginsberg's writing style. According to Allen Ginsberg , each line of the poem Howl is ideally read in one breathe. It creates the sensation of fatigue and restlessness on the reader after reading it, which is related to the drug - induced madness depicted in the poem. Therefore besides being used a source of
aesthetic inspiration, drug use for Beats is also a form of black culture appropriation.
In relation to a language, madness in the literary tradition of Beat writers is also manifested in the experiments they did with the language they used in their works. Beat writers registered the generally accepted language by damaging its shape, forging and reshaping it as they need it to be. As for Allen Ginsberg , the experimentation that he did with drugs and the fact he communicated that experience into a form of literature offers a discourse on subjectivity in the experience of voluntary madness induced by chemical substances.
In Howl, the bodily experience modified by chemical substance is more effectively delivered through oral language. The body, thus, becomes the basis of poetic in describing the experience. In other words, the poem is written through the body. The body becomes the privileged site for poetics. Breathe is tied to the body, so "...by breathing into life the poem, the poet breathes a part of himself into the poem." Then, if the body is the basis for his poetic, by altering the body through the use of drugs, it will change the writing as well. Therefore, the experience of madness is not only manifested in the content of the poem, but also in its form.
Orality and madness are two significant aspects in Beat literary tradition. Drug - induced madness, particularly, is part of the ethos of Beat Generation. Orality, at the same time, serves as an important aspect in the work of the Beat, as in Allen Ginsberg's Howl.
In the line 8, we have found their madness. The line expresses paranoia and hysteria. They are cramped up in a tiny room, and they imagine they hear something called "the Terror" on the other side of the wall. They tell a story of the wall. They perform irrational actions like burning their money.
"Who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear,burning their money
in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror through the wall".
The lines 65-72 are the most detailed discussion of mental illness in the first section. They tell a story of people who are declared insane, who demand an operation called a "lobotomy" in which a part of brain is removed, and who instead get sent to a mental hospital where they receive a variety of other treatments. The passage concludes with a cryptic reference to Ginsberg's mother, who suffered from mental illness.
He shows the idea of spirit. He used the word "shade" which indicates a ghost or spirit. Ginsberg,s mother had died at this point, but the speaker sees in creepy connection between his mother and Solomon. For the speaker, its a distressing case of history repeating itself.
"I am with you in Rockland
where you imitate the shadow of my mother".
Solomon and Ginsberg both spent time at a psychiatric hospital together and give the impression that Solomon was much more unstable than Ginsberg. He thinks that his friend doesn't belong in a "madhouse" in part because it resembles a prison or military facility, which is "armed". Solomon thinks himself as a political dissident.
"I am with you in Rockland where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha".
Drugs, in particular, is an integral part of the lives and work of many Beat writers, including Allen Ginsberg. But, what are drugs? First, drugs is a term that refers to a group of illegal substances. Second, "drugs is a material agent, either a mythical or not , which is not able to exert psychoactive effects". Drug use, in this context is viewed as a form of madness : the kind of voluntary madness induced by chemical substances. The experimentation that many of Beat writers did with drugs led to a kind of mental instability and a never ending search of sensations.
Jack Kerouac's spontaneous prose then largely influenced Allen Ginsberg's writing style. According to Allen Ginsberg , each line of the poem Howl is ideally read in one breathe. It creates the sensation of fatigue and restlessness on the reader after reading it, which is related to the drug - induced madness depicted in the poem. Therefore besides being used a source of
aesthetic inspiration, drug use for Beats is also a form of black culture appropriation.
In relation to a language, madness in the literary tradition of Beat writers is also manifested in the experiments they did with the language they used in their works. Beat writers registered the generally accepted language by damaging its shape, forging and reshaping it as they need it to be. As for Allen Ginsberg , the experimentation that he did with drugs and the fact he communicated that experience into a form of literature offers a discourse on subjectivity in the experience of voluntary madness induced by chemical substances.
In Howl, the bodily experience modified by chemical substance is more effectively delivered through oral language. The body, thus, becomes the basis of poetic in describing the experience. In other words, the poem is written through the body. The body becomes the privileged site for poetics. Breathe is tied to the body, so "...by breathing into life the poem, the poet breathes a part of himself into the poem." Then, if the body is the basis for his poetic, by altering the body through the use of drugs, it will change the writing as well. Therefore, the experience of madness is not only manifested in the content of the poem, but also in its form.
Orality and madness are two significant aspects in Beat literary tradition. Drug - induced madness, particularly, is part of the ethos of Beat Generation. Orality, at the same time, serves as an important aspect in the work of the Beat, as in Allen Ginsberg's Howl.
Conclusion
In 'Howl' , madness is relative. In fact, this poem turns our common notion of sanity on their head. People society typically sees a perfectly normal, the speaker considers insane. People of that society generally sees as mentally ill, the speaker considers misunderstood geniuses. One of the most memorable experiences of Ginsberg's life was a vision in which William Blake read his poetry aloud. However the line between inspired madness, genuine madness, and drug- induced madness is extremely blurry in this poem.
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