Topic > Desire in Allen Ginsberg's poems "Kaddish" and "Howl"

Desire is explored and represented through form and style in Ginsberg's poems, "Kaddish" and "Howl." Desire is omnipresent, it is the essence of wanting or longing for something, or someone, it has unlimited objects. The desire for a person to be with us or an inanimate object, be it a car, a house, a shoe, or the story of an achievement, a goal or an achievement. Ginsberg in his poems portrays an intellectual form of desire, the desire for change, for knowledge and the desire to belong. This answer will examine two of Ginsberg's poems, "Kaddish" and "Howl." Both of these poems portray the significant theme of desire and desire that was acceptable in its time. This essay will aim to demonstrate how desire is shaped by society's ideology and subjectivity in relation to Ginsberg's quoted poems. First, I will examine the types of desire explored by both “Kaddish” and “Howl.” Second, I will demonstrate how Ginsberg in both poems represents desire. Both “Kaddish” and “Howl,” through their style, language and techniques, portray the desire Ginsberg aspires to. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Kaddish", is one of Ginsberg's famous and emotional poems written for his mother from 1957 to 1959, following his mother's death in 1956. Through the use of style and language “Kaddish” explores the Ginsberg's longing for his mother and longing for her presence. In the poem Ginsberg, reconnaissance, his relationship with his mother and his family in general. Growing up Ginsberg witnessed the deterioration of his mother's mental health, as he watched her surrender to a series of psychotic events that eventually took over her life. "Kaddish" explores how his mother's mental illness affected him and his family life and, in turn, affected him in his writing. “Howl” is another Ginsberg poem that explores themes of desire through his writing style and language. Ginsberg wrote “Howl,” from 1954 to 1955. “Howl is a social commentary on mid-20th-century America and may have served as a revolutionary manifesto. “Howl” is one of Ginsberg's complex works that reflects the lives of people who go against social and ideological norms. The poem is divided into three parts, the first part is a dedication "For Carlo Solomon", a friend he met in a mental hospital, a story of the Beat generation. The second part of the poem deals with the social and political structures of 1950s America and the challenge to institutional authority that it symbolizes as "Moloch". In the last part of the poem, Ginsberg speaks directly to Carl Solomon, emphasizing that he is there for him. Ginsberg in both “Kaddish” and “Howl,” analyzes and critiques a variety of mid-20th century American ideologies that shaped his society. . Bennett and Royle suggest that “every literary text is in some way about desire…. however, it does not mean that it is the same desire everywhere and always” (Bennett and Royle, 251). Although “Kaddish” and “Howl” both present desires unacceptable to the American social norm of the 1950s, in “Howl” homosexuality and in “Kaddish” his mother's mental illness. Both of these poems are about desire, but desire is different. The language of “Howl” is an example of unacceptable desire, the crude and sexual images are Ginsberg's way of breaking normal conventions. The explicit language in “who let themselves be fucked in the ass by holy bikers, and screamed with joy”. As underlined by Bennett and Royle who state that according to Lacan and Freud, desire is not fixed but always changing, but mobile,furthermore, “desire is defined by ideological arguments about what society deems appropriate.” This is evident in both, “Kaddish,” Strange now to think of you, without corsets and eyes, as I walk on the sunny sidewalk of Greenwich Village” (Ginsberg, 36). Also in “Howl,” “I'm with you in Rockland in my dreams, walking dripping from a sea voyage on the highway across America in tears to my cottage door in the Western night.” The desire presented in both “Howl” and “Kaddish” is shaped by ideologies that constrain the individual. In "Howl", Ginsberg talks about the desire to belong and the desire to fit into society, he also wishes to challenge the social norms of mid-20th century America. celebrates desires that were considered taboo in 1950s America. Desire in “Howl”, takes an ideological approach, as it asks which desires fit social norms and can be expressed, this is highlighted by “who wandered here and there at midnight in the train yard wondering where to go, and went, without leave broken hearts." This quote reinforces Ginsberg's observation about ideologically enhanced desires. Likewise, “Kaddish” also tries to break away from the acceptable ideologies of the time, revealing her mother's mental illness in a completely raw and unrestrained way, for example, “No love since Naomi screamed – since 1923? – now lost in Greystone ward – new shock for her – Electricity, after 40 on insulin. And Metrasol had made her fat” (Ginsberg, 47). The desire to break away from accepted ideologies in mid-20th century America is evident in both of Ginsberg's poems. In “Howl,” the way Ginsberg talks about his homosexuality in a raw and honest way, at a time when society would shame such an act, as homosexuality was a crime in mid-20th century America. Similarly, in “Kaddish”, where mental illness was a taboo, never talked about and especially if a family member suffered from mental illness, it was once again hidden and shamed. Both show that desire is shaped by ideology, and Ginsberg through these poems portrays his desire to break away from accepted ideologies. Ginsberg's main desire in "Kaddish" is to recover his mother, give her a voice, celebrate her life. , and, to reconcile with the inappropriate concealment of his memories. One way she gives voice to her mother is through conversational storytelling style. Ginsberg appears to be having a conversation with Naomi, even though she is not present. His mother's voice is seen in the poem at different times: "Allen, you don't understand - it's been since those 3 big sticks on my back did something to me in the hospital, they poisoned me, they want to see me." dead – 3 big sticks, 3 big sticks –” (Ginsberg, 42). Bennett and Royle discuss Freud, one of “the most influential philosophers of desire of the twentieth century” (Bennett and Royle, 250). According to Freud, “desire goes back to the child's original desire for the mother, for the mother's breast. This desire is so strong that it produces an absolute identification." Freud's theory of the originality of desire is vital in “Kaddish,” states Ginsberg, “maybe it's a good idea to try – you know the Beginner Womb Monster – Maybe – that way” (Ginsberg, 51). Symbolic language favors the mother's desire and the significance of the mother's presence is demonstrated in: "O glorious muse who bore me from the womb, you first nursed mystical life and taught me speech and music, from whose sorrowful head I took first "Vision". He points out that although his mother was absent for much of his life due to his mental health, Ginsberg describes that it significantly affected his.