Thursday, February 2, 2012

Allen Ginsberg "America"

In Allen Ginsberg's poem "America" is a comparison of himself and  the country of America around the time of communism and war. Ginsberg is describing himself as America but can be very contradicting when he talks bad about America in lines as "Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb" this line stood out to me. The harshness of the language and the hatefulness towards not only Americans but the armed forces and what they do. He says he had given everything to America, It is as if America owns him and he is not doing his job.  He wants to know when American will own up to its problems as in lines "America when will you be angelic? 
When will you take off your clothes? 
When will you look at yourself through the grave?". He wants to know when Americans will take responsibility for its actions and not create human wars and become the saintly place he knows it should be. He makes the reference to Time Magazine, about how he is intrigued by it and has to read it every week. It tells him of the responsibility that he is lacking, the duties he is failing to do. He is not the ideal American citizen by smoking marijuana and drinking. He makes references to his real America with Chinatown and mental institutions. This is the real america he believes and America needs to acknowledge that it is not all about war and killing people and becoming most powerful, this is his real america. Ginsberg was at a time a part of the communist and this was when America was fighting against them. The reader cannot fully distinguish whether he wants to fight with America or against them. He says lines as "America save the Spanish Loyalists 
America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die 
America I am the Scottsboro boys" which were the communist threats of the time. This poem is a mix between hate for American and wanting the ruins of   America as he has ruined his own life.
Vocab:
Trotskyites- followers for Leon Trotsky's communism
"Wobblies"- (members of the Industrial Workers of the World or "IWW"), socialists, and the unaffiliated also joined


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