"America"

In Ginsberg’s other poem, “America,” the image of America as a country is discussed again. Through this poem Ginsberg tries to figure out what his America looks like. A notion that reappears frequently through his work is the idea of taking off one’s clothes and becoming naked. In “America,” Ginsberg asks America when it will “take off its clothes.” This stripping of ideals and values, in Ginsberg’s eyes, will allow the true essence of his country to emerge. There are echoes of Ginsberg’s desire to be naked in order to get at the truth of a matter is echoed in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road with Ginsberg’s naked adventures with the “Holy Con Man,” Neal Cassidy. Ginsberg discusses the concept of power and control through the idea of America controlling as well as using the Atomic bomb. Ginsberg’s blunt “go fuck yourself with your atomic bomb” is the doorway to the idea of the large scale corruption that follows from owning such a weapon. This sense of corruption is then followed immediately with Ginsberg’s declaration of feeling ill: “I don’t feel good don’t bother me. “ The control and the power that the atomic bomb gave America seemed to Ginsberg to upset the natural order of things. As a result, he did not feel well.  But there are good aspects of America which Ginsberg represents with the line: “You made me want to be a saint.” The power of the American ideal and the connotation of personal freedom as well as purity drove Ginsberg to strive for more than the corruption filled air of the business district of America. Along this same line of thought, Ginsberg mentions Time Magazine as being an obsession as well as an emotional crutch. Ginsberg also begs the question of if the impression he gains of America through his television set is correct. This idea of conformity haunts every large consumerist nation. Ginsberg is out to wake up America to what it can be and what it should not become.