The Beat Generation Uncovered

The Beat Generation was mostly composed of the authors Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burrough. Allen Ginsberg is known for writing Howl. Jack Kerouac is known for writing “On the Road”. Finally, William S. Burrough is known for writing Naked Lunch. The characteristics of these works included open-form composition, spontaneity, spiritual curiosity, etc… The writers were known for including obscene imagery and words into their writings. Typically, the topics they discussed in their writings were drugs, sexuality, and hostile behavior. Jack Kerouac coined the term “Beat Generation” in 1948 in order to expand the way of writing to outside of his group of friends. He used it to describe and characterize the youth gathering in New York that supported anti-conformity. Allen Ginsberg’s first line of his poem, Howl, states, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness”. (Howl page 1). My interpretation of this quote is that he thought of conformity as madness. He didn’t see the point in doing so and following everyone else’s ideas of a “normal” persona.

The members of the Beat Generation originated in Upper Manhattan in the late 1940s and migrated to San Francisco after their group had actually formed. It took them years to actually get published, however. It is known that they formed a strong bond during this time. Each member served as a system of support for the other members of the group. This support system kept them from giving up hope during hard times and they eventually worked through it and got published. The first major event that happened in terms of publicity was Allen Ginsberg’s reading of Howl at the Six Gallery in San Francisco. He read his poetry to a small group of people and it was a way for his work to gain recognition and eventually spread his popularity.

After the first group of the Beat Generation established themselves, there was actually a second wave. The members included Bob Kaufman, Diane DiPrima, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Ray Bremser and Ted Joans. Their works included Golden Sardine, Tales of Beatnik Glory, The Truth, etc… Two of the members, Bob Kaufman and Ted Joans, were jazz poets. These “second wavers” of the Beat Generation as a whole were all huge fans of the first wave of the Beat Generation. They are known to have worked together with some of the members including Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. All together, the second wave of the Beat Generation incorporated more diversity into the overall Generation. There were jazz poets which before this era, was not as popular. There were also women in the second wave. This was different from the first wave because the first wave consisted of middle-aged white men. The women incorporated ideas that might not have been considered before this. They were also incorporated into different films done on the era.

Overall, the Beat Generation was self-sustained. The reception wasn’t always great but after long struggles, the writers got the recognition that they deserved. The legacy included a whole separate wave of writers who aspired to continue the ideas of the first wave. Also, their books and poetry are still used today to give people a unique insight into those times.

Works Cited

Ginsberg, Allen. Howl. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1959.

Asher, Levi. "The Beat Generation". Literary Kicks. July 25, 1994 .

Janie's Growth to Reach Independence

Janie’s character grows phenomenally over the course of the novel. Before I can go into that, however, I need to explain her family’s background. It will help in the understanding of why certain events happened the way that they did. First of all, Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, was a slave that was impregnated by her master and her mother, Leafy, was the child produced by that event. Leafy ended up being raped by her schoolteacher and that is how Janie was conceived. Leafy then became an alcoholic after she had Janie and ended up leaving home. Nanny was left to care for Janie and because of all that had happened to her family, she was very strict when it came to Janie and boys.

Janie grew up in a big house with Nanny and the family that Nanny worked for. She was always a confident child and did not even realize she was black until she was six years old. The children and she got photographed and she did not recognize herself in the final product. She had to have herself be pointed out in the picture by someone else. “Dat’s where Ah wuz s’posed to be, but Ah couldn’t recognize dat dark chile as me. So Ah ast, ‘where is me? Ah don’t see me.’ Everybody laughed …’Dat’s you, Alphabet, don’t you know yo’ ownself?” (Hurston page 9).

The first time Janie was really challenged by Nanny was when Nanny caught Janie kissing Johnny Taylor. Janie was sixteen at the time. “She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss.” (Hurston page 12). Nanny then arranges for Janie to marry Logan Killicks. Janie did not want to go through with the marriage. Her idea of love was what she had witnessed with the bees under the pear tree. “She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation.”(Hurston page 11). This was all an ideal to her. She believes that marriage is equivalent to the process of bees pollinating a tree. There is an idea of co-dependence. Janie’s marriage to Logan was full of him not really caring about her and just using her as another worker.

Janie didn’t last very long with Logan Killicks. Not too long after marrying him, she ran away to Eatonville with Joe Starks. Starks basically builds the town from the ground up and sets up a general store. Then, the townspeople appoint him mayor. He bans Janie from partaking in basically any form of a social life. She soon realizes that he wants her more as a trophy wife than an actual partner. A turning point in their relationship is when he beats her in front of many of the townspeople just because she gave him a little bit of an attitude. “Joe Starks didn’t know the words for all this, but he knew the feeling. So he struck Janie with all his might and drove her from the store.”(Hurston page 80). Soon after Joe Starks passes away, Janie runs off with a man named Tea Cake.

Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake was the closest she got to love. He even told her, “From now on you’se mah wife and mah woman and everything else in de world Ah needs.”(Hurston page 124). Unfortunately, their happiness did not last long. The Okeechobee Hurricane hits them at their home in the Everglades. They both survive the hurricane but Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog while he is saving Janie from drowning. He then develops rabies and in his madness, tries to kill Janie. Janie shoots him in self defense and eventually ends up back in Eatonville to start a life for herself on her own.

Janie arrives in Eatonville in a very different mindset and state of mind than when she left. She is now an independent woman, unattached to any man. She has had much personal growth due to her varied and complex relationships starting with Johnny Taylor and ending with Tea Cake. She is self-assured and she can express her own ideas more clearly now. The story ends with Janie as an independent woman who is financially stable, owns her own land, and is happy overall.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Collins, 1937.