Allen Ginsberg's America

In Allen Ginsberg’s poem, America, he expresses sharp criticism of America, and confesses his counter-culture beliefs and tendencies. Ginsberg comments on the American cultural and political landscape, and much of his commentary is expressed in terms of his own relationship with America. Along with a description of his relationship with America in order to more effectively criticize it, Ginsberg’s personal reaction to his criticism is revealing. The combination of his criticism and personal reaction to his own thoughts works to define the self while also allowing for a more effective commentary on America.

In America, the most revealing aspect of Allen Ginsberg’s criticism of America is the complexity of his relationship with America. While
The unfiltered list form of the portion of the poem is suggestive of a Catholic Confession-like admission of sin, especially due to Ginsberg’s follow-up to his list of sins, as he quickly claims “I won't say the Lord's Prayer.” Personal contradictions to Ginsberg’s critique of America are throughout the poem, and although satirical, reveal the reach of America’s corrupting influence, as well as provide personal definition of Ginsberg’s self and a disclosure of his insecurity. Ginsberg satirizes and succumbs to the American obsession with capitalism and money, saying, “America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe”. Additionally, Ginsberg mocks America’s paranoia over communism, saying “America it's them bad Russians. / 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.” Although Ginsberg is imitating what he interprets as a stereotypical American paranoia, by switching from affirmations of his cultural and political separation from America to an embodiment of American fear of communism without switching his voice from first-person or explicitly signifying that the voice is not his own, Ginsberg reveals the difficulty he has resisting American social pressure. Ginsberg offers a personal and revealing definition of his self through exposing the internal conflict he experiences with regards to his defiance of American