Manhattan Thirties Flash
Manhattan Thirties FlashThe poem Manhattan Thirties Flash is exactly what the title states. It is a quick description of Manhattan in the 1930’s. The author, Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was a well-known firebrand, Ginsberg was a leader of the “beat movement” of the 1950’s and of the cultural and political protests of the 1960’s. He often writes about spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. You can see the dehumanization throughout the poem for example in line one when Ginsberg writes, “repetitive machine Crash cookie-cutting.” When he says, “repetitive,” this lets you know that the same thing is being done over and over again, like it is a program. “Cookie-cutting,” says that there is a template and it is being mass produced. Line two and three state, “dynamo rows of soulless replica Similitudes brooding tank-like in Army Depots.” The mention of the tank-like Army Depots means that what he sees is just an area filled with orderly components. Then again in line four, “exactly the same exactly the same exactly the same with no ……..” Not only is Ginsberg directly telling you that there is no variation, but by him repeating, “exactly the same,” he further pushes his views. In line six, “overwhelming force of robot obsession, our slaves are not alive,” by...
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