y of the same ways. This was a major source of anger and frustration in Ginsberg’s life, and was a prevalent theme in his poetry, as in “America.” The first line, “America, go f*** yourself,” quickly gets to the point, obviously not skirting around the topic or language. Such is the same in “Howl.” Ginsberg does not spare the ‘innocent’ reader. When one analyzes the social power of Ginsberg’s statements, one can come easily to the conclusion that society was not exactly welcoming to Ginsberg, and he reacted to that through his writing, especially in “Howl.”The second portion of “Howl” is commonly considered by critics to be the most complicated for the average mind to comprehend. In this section, nearly every thing is described as a ‘Moloch.’ Moloch, in mythology was a God to whom children were sacrificed. Now, the term is commonly used to describe anything responsible for destroying innocence. In Part II, Ginsberg describes nearly everything about American culture to be a Moloch. Even society’s viewpoints are Molochs. In a way, Ginsberg is calling America itself a Moloch, and then continuing to describe parts of the whole. “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!” (Ginsberg 21)America is evil to Ginsberg because of the feelings of hatred and repulsion the society builds in him.The third section of “Howl” is a striking contrast to the other two parts. It seems almost soft, gentle, more relaxed than the exclamations of repression and objection in the first sections. The third section is written directly to Ginsberg’s lover, Carl Solomon. Each stanza, save the first, begins “I’m with you in Rockland.” Carl Solomon was being held...
