The beats 2 - American lit PDF

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The “Beats’ generation What was significant of “The Beats” in the 1950s? The importance of the name was given to a group of authors who rejected contemporary American values during the post-war era. This group centered around the communities of San Francisco’s North Beach, New York City Greenwich Village and Los Angeles Venice West (“Beat”). Famous author that were a part of the group “The Beats” were Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The three authors mention in the prior sentence meet at a Columbia University and that is how they started “The Beats group. The “Beats” group began at a 1955 poetry writing with theses authors, doing unusual tasks such as using hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol. Even though they got published, it took many years to get published. Throughout reading these poems, what the Beats” different beliefs and how it was showed examples in different poems or short stories. Also, they had major impacts on future generations. Bohemianism is one of the important themes for the “Beats” group or generation. Bohemian are artistic people in the Contemporary period, who are free and openminded. During the Contemporary period, people did drugs and smoked marijuana. These lines from America show the Bohemian lifestyle. “I smoke marijuana every chance I get. /I sit in the house for days on and stare at the roses in the closet. /When I go to Chinatown, I get drunk and never laid (Ginsberg 32-35). The importance of this example was that they did not strict about drinking or smoking. A second example is from the “Vanishing American Hobo”. This quote talks about how hobos were living in the 1960s or late 1950s. “The hobos of America co can still travel in a healthy way are still in good shape, they can hide in cemeteries and drink wine under cometary groves of trees and micturate and sleep on cardboards and smash’’(Kerouac,2982). The relevance

of this quotes shows the Bohemian lifestyle that American Hobos were living. This theme changes Rebellion is the second theme that occurred in “The Beats.” Rebellion is an act of going against the government or rule. One of the examples is from a poem written “I AM Writing” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti shows that the narrator is rebelling from America. “And I am waiting/ for the meek to be blessed/ inherit the earth without taxes’ (Ferlinghetti,2982). This quote shows that this person is rebelling against the United States by not paying taxes. Next, lines would be from Allen Ginsberg’s “America’’ poem. “America when will we end the human war? /Go f(expletive) yourself with your atom bomb’’ (Ginsberg,4-5). From these lines, this represents that they are against that American should end the war with a bomb. Spiritualism was showed in the in the Contemporary period in the late 1950s. The definition of spiritualism to “The Beats’ was that they did not believe in a certain religion, but they believed in their own trail of spiritualism. “Vanishing American Hobo” talks about the hobo believing in Buddha. The original hobo dream was best expressed in a lovely little poem mentioned by Dwight Goddard in his Buddhist bible: Oh, for this one rare occurrence Gladly would I give ten thousand pieces of gold! A hat is on my head, a bundle on my back, And my staff, the refreshing breeze and the full moon” (Kerouac, 2976). This Buddhist lines show they believed in mediating in nature. A second example would be from the poem “America. “I won’t say the Lord’s Prayer. I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations” (Ginsberg,39-40). This shows they believe in what is happening around them in a spiritual way. The last example can be show in the poem “I am Waiting,” where he talks about

watching television that is important event in any religion. “And I am waiting for the Last Supper to be served again’’(Ferlinghetti,44-45). This shows spiritualism by showing that “The Beats are not tied with one religion like Protestant or Catholicism because it is important event in any religion. Freedom is the final theme in the beats period. The type of freedom that was mentioned poetry and short stories. Some lines from “America” not very conventional like all the other for that time period. “America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing. / America two dollar and tewentyseven cents January 17, 1956. I can’t stand my own mind” (Ginsberg,1-3). Another way of thinking about this quote is that American has not do anything for his life or freedoms. The final example of freedom is when Allen Ginsberg talks to someone who he sees. “I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys. Even though Walt Whitman died long time ago, it shows some men were gay at that time period. The last thing that should be pointed out in this quote is how authors at that time period would write anything about a gay person. “The Beats” changed history so that future authors would not be antagonized against any major events that impacted the people. Later, there was the Woodstock. Woodstock was major event for hippies who wanted peace. Also, it gave people be different like not being patriotic and going to war. People were rallying against American for later wars in America. Future authors were afraid to write something that might be controversial to their peers. Overall, these themes were defining “The Beats.” Without there effort, on trying to publish poem and short stories. “The Beats” lead America to think differently about how someone’s life is spent on. For example, some of the hobo’s life were being spent on living cardboard. From this group, being different in America was a good thing for them.

Works Cited

“Beat Movement AMERICAN LITERARY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT.” The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Feb. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/art/Beat-movement. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. "I Am Waiting.’’ The Heath Anthology of American Literature Vol. E, Ed. Paul Lauter, et al., 7th ed., Health, 2014, pp. 2984-92 Ginsberg, Allen. "America.’’ The Heath Anthology of American Literature Vol. E, Ed. Paul Lauter, et al., 7th ed., Health, 2014, pp. 2960-74. Kerouac, Jack "The Vanish American Hobo.’’ The Heath Anthology of American Literature Vol. E, Ed. Paul Lauter, et al., 7th ed., Health, 2014, pp. 2975-84...