In part three of Allen Ginsberg’s
poem, it switches from speaking about those the speaker generally considered
the best minds of his generation to speaking directly about Carl Solomon, a
writer Ginsberg met during his time at the Columbia Presbyterian Psychiatric
who was being treated for depression with shock therapy (Source).
Each line begins with “I'm with you
in Rockland”, likely to suggest the aforementioned Columbia Presbyterian
Psychiatric, then reveals specific bits of information about the experience
there. The speaker likely repeats the line as a means to emphasize the
similarities between himself and Solomon. The line “I'm with you in Rockland
where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter” enforces this. Despite
this bond of comradeship, in the very first line he states, “…where you're
madder than I”. From this, we’ve been told that though they're of a similar
kind, Solomon is to a far stronger degree.
The speaker continues to describe
Solomon (in manners quite unflattering in my opinion) with lines like “I'm with
you in Rockland where you scream in a straightjacket that you're losing the
game of the actual pingpong of the abyss” and “…where fifty more shocks will
never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in a
void” (Solomon sounds like he’s seen better days). By the end of the poem, the
speaker seems to describe the hypothetical bombing of the mental hospital,
followed by the naked patients running amuck in society. It then closes with
Solomon’s escape leading him to finally be reunited with the speaker in the
Western night, but purely in the realm of the speaker’s dreams.
-George
What do you think the author means by the line “…where you laugh at this ‘invisible humor’”?
How else does Ginsberg’s usage of repetition strengthen the
poem?
What are we meant to learn about mental illness from reading
this poem?
The repetition of "I'm with you in Rockland" is almost chant-like, as if Ginsberg is willing himself back into the ward with Solomon. It seems recalling his friend in his situation is very painful to him, as is evident in the line "where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void." Ginsberg obviously feels that the treatment Solomon is receiving does not work, and the shocks are almost cruel, for they will never return his "soul." The repetitive chant recalls his memory of Solomon, and returns Ginsberg to the ward with him. Ginsberg switches from addressing Solomon singularly, "you," to saying "we," as if by the end he has returned to Rockland, but this time they are saved by their "soul's airplanes," destroying the hospital and setting its inmates into the world.
ReplyDeletei think that laughing at invisible humor is saying that you laugh at something that is not real or the fact that it doesn't exist. the fact that the context is being in a mental institution is also interesting because it relates back to insane people hallucinating or laughing at strange situations for unknown reasons. the repetition i think is also used to emphasize the place that he is at to make the reader wonder why its important that he is at Rockland and also giving it a double meaning. I
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