Topic > The Depiction of Desire 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, whether it is a car, a house, a shoe, or the desire for a goal, result or fulfillment. Desire is explored and represented through form and style in Ginsberg's poems, “Kaddish” and “Howl.” Ginsberg in his poems portrays an intellectual form of desire, the desire for change, knowledge, and the desire to belong. This answer will look at two of Ginsberg's poems, “Kaddish” and “Howl”, both of these poems portray the significant theme of desire and desire acceptable in his 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, this article will examine the types of desire explored by both “Kaddish” and “Howl.” Secondly, this response demonstrates how Ginsberg in both poems represents desire. Finally, this essay will analyze how Ginsberg uses style, language, and technique in “Kaddish” and “Howl” to portray the desire he 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 traces 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 rebel 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, and a story of the Beat generation. The second part of the poem deals with; the social and political structures of 1950s America and the challenging institutional authority he 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 criticizes 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 the same desire is everywhere and always." 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, it is Ginsberg's way of breaking normal conventions, “who let themselves be fucked by biker saints, and screamed with joy”. This explicit language furthers Ginsberg's desire to break down ideologies andsocial norms. As pointed out 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 when you think about it, gone without corsets and eyes, as I walk on the sunny sidewalk of Greenwich Village.” 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.” This is an example of 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 wants to challenge the social norms of mid-20th century America. Ginsberg in this poem celebrates the 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 missing in Greystone ward – new shock for her – Electricity, after 40 on insulin. And Metrasol had made her gain weight”. 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 dishonor 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 it was the family member suffering 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 since those 3 big sticks on my back - they did something to me in the hospital, they poisoned me, they want to see me dead." – 3 large sticks, 3 large sticks –”. Bennett and Royle discuss Freud, one of “the most influential philosophers of desire of the twentieth century.” 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,” Ginsberg states, “maybe it's a good idea to try – you know the Beginner Womb Monster – Maybe – that way.” The symbolic language favors the mother's desire and the meaning of the mother's presences is demonstrated in: “O glorious muse who bore me from the mother's womb, you first nursed the mystical life and taught me language and music, from which sorrowful head I took Vision first -”. He emphasizes that although his mother is.