Acceptance Letter

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Ginsberg’s homosexuality was counter-culture to the capitalist society and caused him a lot of isolation and loneliness. It was hard to for these minority groups to fulfill their dreams when the government openly discouraged the counter-culture lifestyle. When he said, “Moloch who entered my soul early!” he showed sympathy to others struggling to avoid the problems of capitalism (68). These ideas have been promoted since birth, so it would be useless to try and ignore them. Ginsberg emphasized how personal identity was being lost when he said, “Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! Invisible suburbs!” (68). Using words like ‘robot’ and ‘invisible’ created an image of anonymity amongst the people of a community. No matter where Ginsberg was at in the U.S, people, lifestyles, and even buildings were becoming the same. Ginsberg testified that Americans broke their backs to get this country where it stands, but haven’t received anything in return (68). Capitalism enslaved the mind and caused madness in those who were trying to follow the obnoxious patterns of a consumer society. Only the upper class had the power to take and give as they pleased. Section II showed the hatred Ginsberg had towards institutionalized prescribed norms. He wanted everyone to commit to living their own unique lifestyle and stop the greedy, capitalist government from taking away their freedom.

The capitalist society restricted people to money, machinery, armies, and filth. Ginsberg wasn’t writing to say his counter-culture life was the only way too live, but he wanted people to realize that he didn’t deserve to be punished for expressing individuality and resisting the capitalist standards. Howl represented a time in American society where the cruel entities of capitalism enslaved the greatest minds and encouraged anonymity amongst all. He believed the best minds were the ones who managed to live outside the confines of the illegitimate government. Allen Ginsberg howled out against the government who influenced everyone to conform to their institutionally prescribed norms and capitalist economy. Howl is a poem with great social importance that encourages acceptance and unique self-expression.

Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl”. The Portable Beat Reader, Penguin Books USA Inc., 1992, 68-69.

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