Howl, or as it should be called, what the f@#k?

My first impressions after reading howl are similar to my title, what the junk. I was pretty confused about the jibber jabber of what I had just finished reading. After thinking a little about the poem, though, I started to see a few patterns and some trends that were noticeable throughout the poem. I'm not saying I come close to understanding much of anything about this poem, but I'll give a shot at what i got out of it.

The poem starts off with three lines that more or less introduce the rest of part 1. Ginsberg begins writing that the speaker saw "the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness" (page 9). He introduces the general subject of part one as being various people of his generation who have descended into some abnormal state of mind. I found it useful to look up dynamo as an electric generator or a very energetic person, both of which go hand in hand.

After these initial three lines, Ginsberg spends about the next ten pages addressing these great minds that have been destroyed. He in this section starts every line with "who," the who being the various minds that have been destroyed. Each line in this section describes people doing incredibly obscene and alarming actions, such as "walking all night with shoes full of blood" and "whoring through Colorado" (pages 14 and 15). Other actions mentioned were some crude sexual remarks, but one theme i noticed throughout this section was the constant mention of drugs. I remember reading about opium, marijuana, and peyote but I'm sure there were many more references. I think Ginsberg in this section is trying to show the various depravities a man can sink to when he gives way to madness. This madness can be created from drugs, as alluded to by the constant drug references, or from racism, or any idea that can drive a person to madness. Two words I looked at here for clarity were copulate, which pretty much just means to engage in sexual activity, and insatiate, which relates to not being satisfied.

The second chapter of the poem, I guess you could call it, is all about Moloch, a deity whose worship was marked by the propitiatory sacrifice of children by their own parents. I feel that this section connects with the section on the actions of crazy people. It describes a disturbing deity made more than likely by crazed human beings, just further illustrating the ridiculous things that the human mind can create.

The final section talks about Carl Solomon, who the poem is actually written for. Solomon was an author who voluntarily admitted himself into a mental hospital. Ginsberg relates to Solomon's mental troubles, saying that he too is in Rockland, presumably the mental institute, where he "screams in a straightjacket" and "where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to your body" (page 25). Ginsberg is here saying that he, too, is fit for a mental hospital. I think the overall meaning of the poem is trying to convey the fact that everybody's mind can sink into a crazed state, emitting a barbaric yawp or howl.

The next poem, A Supermarket In California, involves Ginsberg repeatedly referencing Walt Whitman and seeing himself walking through a supermarket with Whitman. I honestly had no idea what was going on in this poem. Perhaps Ginsberg wishes to be a transcendentalist like Whitman, and is talking about the normality and consumerism in the supermarket. Maybe Ginsberg just wanted to speak about his longing for a conversation with Whitman, who he calls a respected teacher in the poem. I'm not sure of the meaning of the poem, but it certainly shows a reverence to Whitman.