Howl

Study Guide

Literary Devices

Setting

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Literary Devices Setting

Although “Howl” clearly takes place in mid-century America, it doesn’t have a single, concrete geographical setting. Instead, the speaker makes a sprawling set of geographical references to places both in the United States (e.g., Colorado, Oklahoma, the West Coast) and abroad (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Tangiers). These references help underscore the scope of the poem’s apocalyptic vision, which at once encompasses and extends beyond the confines the United States. Yet despite the sprawl of references to place, “Howl” does have a clear geographical center of gravity: New York City. Most of the places mentioned by the speaker are found in one of the five boroughs of New York, especially Brooklyn and Manhattan. The speaker also makes several references to places just outside the city, in New Jersey towns like Paterson and Newark. The centrality of New York makes sense from a biographical perspective, given that Ginsberg was born in Paterson and spent much of his life in New York. New York’s prominence also makes sense in a broader way, given its status as a central hub for creativity and finance. If the American imagination is disintegrating, as “Howl” suggests, then the rot has begun in America’s heart.

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