Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Poetry Slaughtering the Sacred Cows Slaughtering the Sacred Cows An Analysis of Allen Ginsberg's "America" What Allen Ginsberg did in 1955 was unthinkable. In the midst of McCarthyism and severe anticommunist sentiment, he wrote a poem in which he admitted having belonged to the Communist party. Yet, even more surprising was that he didn't stop there. In his poem "America," Allen Ginsberg challenges the beliefs and values that the United States has always cherished, leaving no stone unturned, and no feather unruffled. Always the cynic and revolutionary, Ginsberg slaughters the sacred cows. It is evident from the very beginning that Ginsberg is disillusioned with American society, and he is ready to turn his back on what he feels has been oppressing him. "America I've given you all and now I'm nothing." (P-M 368) He goes on to explain that all he has left is pocket change, which is little consolation for the mind he has lost. It is from this point on that Ginsberg explores the resentment felt toward America, and why he can't succumb to the complacency that grips the rest of the population. One of the most blatant, and effective social commentaries lies in the line, "Go *censored* yourself with your atom bomb." (P-M 368) The Cold War raged as Ginsberg penned this work, and every facet of American culture reflected in some way the fear associated with nuclear destruction. The Military Industrial Complex (M.I.C.) built more bombs and bombers, while technology was birthed and antiquated month after month. America was moving at record speed toward what Ginsberg viewed as insanity. Tired of being pushed forward, he writes, "I don't feel good don't bother me. / I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind." (P-M 368) He is dragging his feet, never wanting to give into America's "insane demands." (P-M 368) Also in this stanza, Ginsberg justifies how he lives, and how "(he's) trying to come to the point." (P-M 369) It is here that he admits to being a Communist in his youth, and that he is not sorry for being one. The sheer audacity of a statement like this in 1955 has no comparison in present-day American society. In effect, Ginsberg was announcing himself as a criminal, a felon, and a traitor. Yet he antagonizes the situation further by saying, "You should have seen me reading Marx. / My psychoanalyst thinks I'm perfectly right." (P-M 369) Ginsberg's cynical nature shines here as he is pronounced sane by a doctor, who is probably certified by a federal department of medicine, when Senator McCarthy would have you believe that Communists are dangerous and/or mentally instable. It is also important to mention the reference made to marijuana in this passage. Ginsberg was an avid marijuana user and was at the forefront of the psychedelic revolution in the late 1960's, but it is apparent that he used the hallucinogen regularly almost a decade earlier. In the second stanza, Ginsberg changes from addressing America to addressing himself. This is an important transition because it is here where he comes to the conclusion that there are two Americas. "It occurs to me that I am America. / I am talking to myself again." (P-M 369) This revelation comes by way of Time Magazine, which he is obsessed with and reads religiously. "It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. / Movie producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me." (P-M 369) Time Magazine acts as a window into the other America, where everyone is pushed to produce, and pushed to be serious. He continues with this theme in the third stanza, examining that America. Although it is not explained until one of the last lines of the poem, the last stanza is Ginsberg's glimpse of America through the television set. "Asia is rising against me. / I haven't got a chinaman's chance." (P-M 369) As the Cold War waged on, the Iron Curtain began to spread into Asia, first with China, and then into Korea and Southeast Asia. The U.S. became increasingly alarmed, and passed that fear along to its citizens. Ginsberg is concerned about how America will handle the increasing Red menace, and comments on the situations in France and Tangiers. He is disgusted at how America has taken on the role of the world's protector, but still neglects thousands of its own citizens. The T.V. speaks, "I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underprivileged who / live in my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns." (P-M 370) These are some of the same issues that will divide the country in the next decade: the Communists, racial tension, the poor and war. Ginsberg points them out well in advance, but his voice is muted under the constant humming of the television vacuum tubes. The last major portion of the poem delves right at the heart of the Cold War. As it is well known, the Cold War was fought with words and ideas, not planes and atomic bombs. This propaganda was chiseled into the psyche of all citizens through the use of every form of media available. The message: fear all communists. He writes (P-M 370): America you don't really want to go to war. Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians. The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take our cars from out our garages. Ginsberg is pointing out America's tendency to blame the Communists for its problems instead of taking responsibility for its own problems. It was more convenient for the U.S. government to blame the Russians for its faltering economy, structured around the M.I.C., than own up to an uncontrollable bureaucracy and inadequate leadership. For the most part, the American citizen went right along with the plan, and Ginsberg knew this. This is evident because of the transition he makes right before the end of the poem, in which the focus is turned away from the atrocities the Russians and Chinese would inevitably inflict, and is recentered on the ones America has already inflicted. He comments (P-M 370): 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. America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set. The fear instilled into the American hearts was that the Communists would change their way of life and take away their freedom, but many either ignored, or denied, the fact that these atrocities had already happened once before: here in America. In Ginsberg's last criticism he plainly asks, "America is this correct?" (P-M 370) Ginsberg doesn't answer this question directly, but he alludes to his future when he says, "I'd better get down to the job." (P-M 370) He then professes that he isn't fit out for the army, or making precision parts, so the reader is left to ponder what direction Ginsberg will take. Based upon his later work, it is clear that he chose the path of greatest resistance, yet he remained true to form his entire career. Always having to have the last word, Ginsberg wraps up "America" by stating proudly he is "putting (his) queer shoulder to the wheel." (P-M 370) He has accepted only his version of America and has exposed the other America for the fraud it was. He was brutally honest and spared no feelings. His words were brave and meaningful, with irony and cynicism woven into the pattern of razor-sharp criticism. America could never be the same again. Allen Ginsberg had slaughtered the scared cows. Bibliography: Poetry for the Millenium, First Edition, "America" bvy Allen Ginsberg Word Count: 1282
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