More about "Howl"

I liked the points Yitian and Paul made about "Howl". Understanding the context of this poem helped me understand it a lot... when they mentioned it was from the Beat Generation, I looked up more info on this and can understand more clearly the messages the poem is trying to convey. I also agree that the repetition of "who," "Moloch," and "I'm with you in Rockland" is a good example of the Beat Generation. Knowing the time period is very helpful. Like Paul said, the Beat Generation had a lot of experimentation, all of which were expressed in this poem (drugs, sex, religion, etc.) This poem seems like an experimental work as well. It fits into the period of modernism well, with its references to modernist culture in Part I and its scattered and fragmented structure in Part II. It features a lot of modernist themes, too, like alienation, urbanization, cynicism, and loss of faith in humanity.

The indentations seemed to be a good way for the poem to keep its rhythm and organize it a little bit. Like if it line was indented, it was continuing the "who" or the "Moloch," etc. Otherwise, it was starting a new beat, a new thought.

In Part II, what was "Moloch" really referring to? I get that Moloch is a god, but does it actually act as a metaphor for something else in this poem? I got the feeling that it was talking about American society and how condemned it is. Or about the degrading urban culture of America. I do, though, agree that it seems to be used a lot out of frustration, like "Oh, god!" What do you guys think about the poet's choice of using the god Moloch?

The imagery in Part III really stood out to me. The whole time, it paints a picture of writers who seem to be declared insane and thrown into asylums, when they really just want to be free from things like government institutions. This seems a lot like modernism, where the writers feel alienated from society (they think they're insane), and they don't have faith in government or institutions anymore. Any thoughts on this, guys?