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Marta Werbanowska

Gone down the American river: Resonances of Ginsbergs poetry in Saul Williams

poem , said the shotgun to the head!

On September 11, terrorists from the Middle East who destroyed American immunity to

largescale !iolence and chaos also forced many American and "ritish no!elists to reconsider

the !alue of their work and its relation to the history of the present,# claims $anka% Mishra in

his &''( article on post)*11 literature in the +nited States -ndeed, the terrorist attacks which

took place on September 11, &''1 and their aftermaths . general sense of insecurity, great

loss and redisco!ered national solidarity, which e!entually ga!e grounds for the /eorge W

"ush administration to wage the War on 0errorism . could not ha!e gone unnoticed or

ignored by artists of all trades -n his collection of fi!e essays titled Welcome to the Desert of

the Real, Sla!o% i2ek states that in the e3pectation of a Messianic E!ent, life comes to a

standstill# 4(5 While it would be at least inappropriate to call the )*11 attacks a Messianic

E!ent,# it is indisputable that they awoke many Americans, and especially American artists,

from a kind of social and political inertia 0he American way of life,# a phrase widely used

in the conte3t of the post)*11 threat of terrorism, has always discretely implied the notion of

the +nited States being what 6e7illo once called the narcissistic heart of the West# and what

i2ek refers to as the safe Sphere,# 48)5 meaning that the horror happens there, not here#

4195 . American citi:ens are aware of military conflicts, natural disasters and social

difficulties around the world but, at the same time, they are somehow con!inced about their

own immunity to those phenomena, approaching them as tele!ision e!ents# rather than real

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life occurrences E!en though the +nited States participated in both World Wars, as well as

other military conflicts 4such as the ;orean and the


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and e3horting American citi:ens to embrace her coming, re%ect the traditional Western !alues

. patriarchal, militant, and aggressi!e . which he percei!es as obsolete, and adopt the new

!alues represented by the /reat Mother# who stands for peace, lo!e, and the %oy of self

disco!ery for e!ery man and woman 0his 4halfinsane5 messiah o!ertly critici:es, renounces

and condemns the policy and !alues supported by the country in which he li!es, and his

references to the "ush administration and its drawbacks are more than ob!ious 0herefore, the

poem becomes inscribed into the American tradition of ci!il disobedience, introduced by

enry 6a!id 0horeau and continued by many other prominent +S authors, from Walt

Whitman to Allen /insberg 0he idea of ci!il disobedience suggests that it is e!ery citi:en?s

moral obligation to stand against any un%ust laws constituted by the go!ernment of his or her

country -t in!ol!es the notion of one?s own conscience . rather than legal regulations .

being decisi!e for one?s actions - think that we should be men first, and sub%ects afterward

-t is not desirable to culti!ate a respect for the law, so much as for the right 0he only

obligation which - ha!e a right to assume is to do at any time what - think right,# 4&5 states

0horeau in his probably best known essay titled On the 6uty of =i!il 6isobedience#

0horeau was li!ing during the time in which the American go!ernment legally allowed

sla!ery and had %ust waged war on Me3ico, the latter e!ent being the immediate inspiration

for writing the essay 0hus, it is not surprising that his ideas had their most !i!id re!i!als in

poetry at e3actly those periods when the +nited States would act as an aggressi!e*oppressi!e

agent again -n 1D8), 0horeau askedC ow does it become a man to beha!e toward this

American go!ernment todayF - answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it#

495 0he same @uestion and identical answer seem to ha!e also been !alid in 1)>G, when Allen

/insberg published his !olume titled Howl and Other Poemsand still uptodate in &''9,

when Saul Williams?, said the shotgun to the head.saw the light of day 0horeau was !oicing

his protest against the armed conflict in Me3icoH /insberg?s poem condemns the war in ;orea

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with its tragic aftermaths and the =old War, whereas Williams? te3t defies the American

in!asion in -ra@ and the associated War on 0errorism

0he speaker in , said the shotgun to the head.is a !isionary outcast re%ected by a

society which does not understand the re!elation he tries to preach to its members -n these

terms, he is one of the best minds of ItheJ generation destroyed by madness,# 48)5 so !i!idly

represented in owl# 0hose angelheaded hipsters# 48)5 in /insberg?s poem were, for

ItheirJ sensuali:ed spirituality, for their fren:ied pursuit of IAbsoluteJ Keality, IJ outcasts,

dri!en mad, suicided IJ by society, dri!en into e3ile, despised IJ# 4/regory 1)D8C 9D(5

0heir actions as they howled on their knees in the subway and were dragged off the roof*

wa!ing genitals and manuscripts# 4/insberg 1))(C >15 . may suggest they were madmenH

howe!er, from /insberg?s point of !iew they were but !isionaries who suffered from

re%ection and misunderstanding on the part of society 0he same sense of alienation, re%ection

and lack of understanding is e3perienced by the speaker in Williams? poem e also wanders

amongst the society which refuses to acknowledge the !alidity of his !isionsC my friends

laugh at me* and talk behind my back* they say that you ha!e* changed me* and* i am* i am

like a sur!i!or *of the flood *walking through the streets *drenched with* /od* surprised that

all of the* drowned !ictims* are still walking and talking# 4&8&>5 0he characters in both

poems are ones who stand in the tradition of ci!il disobedience, demonstrating their

opposition to the strict, rigid and traditional !alues of society which maintains a monopoly

on reality, imposing and enforcing a single, materialistrationalist !iew# 4/regory 1)D8C 9DD5

0he opposition is percei!ed by their contemporaries as insanity but, from both authors? point

of !iew, the madness that is this opposition deser!es not contempt, but praiseH to them it is not

a clinical condition, but a metaphorical e3pression of the poems? characters? refusal of

becoming acculturated, rebellion against the norms imposed on 4and by5 society Actions they

perform . whether running around naked and scribbling inspired# incantations that no other

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person may comprehend 4/insberg5 or announcing the coming of a strange /oddess to

unknown people in the streets 4Williams5 . are outside of the Western cultural canon,

go!erned by such !alues as reason, materialism, belief in science and logic, general

skepticism and the rule of patriarchy 0he !ery fact of e3istence of such indi!iduals may not

be comfortable for the American citi:enry, since it implies the notion that this Western way of

life is not the only right and possible one and, therefore, it constitutes a threat to their

comfortable selfrighteousness Any citi:en breaching the unspoken pact of social unanimity

threatens to shatter the illusion of the nation?s omnipotence -n the eyes of the society of

/insberg?s times of the =old War, the democratic emporium could defeat the plague of

communism . if all Americans harmoniously belie!ed in democratic !alues 0ranslating this

to the reality of Saul Williams? contemporaries, it could be said that Americans belie!ed in

their country?s capacity to eradicate the peril of terrorism, pro!ided that e!ery one of them

supported the actions conducted in order to safeguard the American way of life# 6eclare

him mad, and you deny the meaning of his resistance# 4"reslin 1)D(C &)5 . !iewed from this

perspecti!e, madness in owl# and , said the shotgun to the head.is a denomination for

those who declare their opposition to social norms which they consider unethicalH it is a token

of ci!il disobedience

Apart from the presence of outcastsprotagonists, there is another significant

element shared by the two works of Williams and /insbergH namely, the concept of society

presented as an e!il /od or /odlike machinery, demanding unconditional obedience and

cruel sacrifices -n owl# this force appears as the MolochH in , said the shotgun to the

head. it is present as the male god# Williams? patriarchal /od, not unlike /insberg?s

Moloch, originates from biblical imagery 0hroughout the poem, he is referred to as the

biblical !oice from the burning bush 4or the burning "ush,# 4>>5 as Williams spells it at one

point in the poem, clearly alluding to the aggressi!e rule of the +S $resident5 -n the "ible,

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this !oice introduces itself to Moses as the /od of thy father, the /od of Abraham, the /od

of -saac, and the /od of Lacob,# thus presenting a completely patriarchal perspecti!e "y

e!oking the name of Abraham and -saac, he also introduces himself as the /od who demands

sacrifice from his belie!ers, no matter how atrocious it may be /insberg?s Moloch, similarly

to Williams? angry god# of Western !alues, also demands cruel sacrifice and arouses fear

and abomination in the speaker e is the hea!y %udger of men,# 4/insberg 1))(C >85 and his

belie!ers broke their backs lifting Moloch to ea!en# 4>>5 Moloch demands unconditional

obedience and conformity to his !alues, which are composed of !iolence, unkindness,

alienation, guilt, ignorance, greed, repression and e3ploitation# 4/regory 1)D8C 9D)5 -t is due

to the fact that the society first created Moloch, and then conformed to its rule, that the

!isionary outcasts referred to earlier are re%ected from it Moloch stands for commercialism

4unobtainable dollars# and blood IJ running money#5, militarism 4the !ast stone of war,#

whose fingers are ten armies#5, se3ual repression 4Moloch the lo!eless#5 and cold

technological de!elopment 4Kobot apartments# and smokestacks and antennae IcrowningJ

the cities#5, whereas those who rebel against ha!e big pacifist eyes,# protest the narcotic

tobacco ha:e of =apitalism,# yearn for se3ual liberation 4copulating ecstatic and insatiate#5

associated with the reunion with natural instincts and the en!ironment 4/insberg 1))(C 8)

>>5, said the shotgun to the head.presents an analogical situation, in which the place of

Moloch is taken by the ci!ili:ation that worships a male god# 4Williams &''9C G>5 -t is a

ci!ili:ation which preaches patriarchy and at the same time associates it with !iolence and

warmongering 4your weapons * are phallic * all of them#5, glorifies materialism 4earn &'

mill * to instill fear#5 o!er the life of citi:ens 4your curren4cy5tsea * reflects an army * of

dead men#5 and denies the naturalness of its se3uality, wearing chastity belts# 0he

soothsaying narrator of the poem re%ects the Molochlike /od who leads IJ into sla!ery *

and war,# proclaiming an idyllic !ision of worldwide peace and union of all people 4the

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drunks !omit in unison * Nthough last night they drank from different cups * children laugh and

play * introducing their parents * to in!isible friends * a country girl smiles#5 who are e3iting

ItheJ colosseum,# symbolically resigning from !iolence, as well as announcing se3ual

liberation 4i ha!e committed myself * to adultery * i will only sleep * with /O6?s wife * our

affair * is no secret * he gets his thrills * from watching us#5 and the re!ealing power of nature

4ri!ers * like oceans * oceans * like answers * @uestions * in cloud forms * raindrops * in

stan:as#5, compared to poetry which may affect people and make them want to change their

ways Announcing such !isions, the prophetnarrator is labeled as useless,# e!en doing the

uni!erse or humanity or the future some sort of disser!ice,# 4Williams &''9C 9D1115 %ust as

/insberg?s angelheaded hipsters# were deemed insane and dangerous urthermore,

similarly to Moloch, the ci!ili:ation of the male /od also disrespects nature 4oil slicked

feathers, putrid stenched waterbed* Nmother nature is a whore,? said the shotgun to the

head#5 48D5 According to the speaker, e3tolling technological achie!ements and material

possessions while neglecting and disregarding nature and its creations . including the human

being . may e!entually bring the whole nation to its selfinflicted death -n both owl# and,

said the shotgun to the head.this en!isioned suicide actually takes place 0he second part of

owl# ends with the description of people who ha!e e3perienced an epiphany, shedding

light on the cruel world of Moloch and decided they do not want to li!e in it anymoreC Keal

holy laughter in the ri!er 0hey saw it all the wild eyes the holy yells* 0hey bade farewell

0hey %umped off the roof to solitude wa!ing* carrying flowers 6own to the ri!er into the

street# 4>>5 -t is no accident that the form of death they choose is %umping off the roof of a

building . after all, Moloch is the sphin3 of cement and aluminum IJ skyscrapers IJ

Kobot apartments,# 4>85 so a building can be read as an embodiment of Moloch owe!er,

their death is depicted like an act of celebration, not a hopeless and final step 0hey laugh,

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wa!e and carry flowers . the e!ent resembles a %oyful rite rather than an act committed out of

desperation

In , said the shotgun to the head.there appears a similar moment

in a proselike fragment narrated by a man whose life has been completely

absorbed by the "insbergian $oloch he is a whitecollar corporate

employee, the relationship he is in is de&oid of romance and he lacks

fulfillment in life, feeling like a cog in the machine. #ne day, the &ery

moment he finds his true lo&e in the building he works in, strange things

happen here is our first touch / and here is the trembling building

'...(/ e&eryone running to windows to see what has happened, as smiles

slowly rise on our faces like the time between 012 and 034 o&er the

skyline 5678. It becomes clear to the reader that the two characters are

in a building which is being destroyed9 the setting ine&itably brings to

mind associations with the 4/77 terrorist attacks and the collapse of the

orld )rade :enter towers. %owe&er, these people do not see the situation

they are in the same way in which it is percei&ed by obser&ers from the

outside9 they associate the trembling and e!plosions with themsel&es and

with the lo&e they are disco&ering. and down that burning aisle where

glass had been strewn like rice we decided to *ump the broom, walking off

into the will of the di&ine wind 5678 their suicide is also not an act

of desperation, but of *oy. Instead of stepping towards death, they feel as

if they were immersing themsel&es in their newlyfound lo&e. )he suicides

in %owl were *umping off rooftops to escape $oloch, whereas illiams

characters e!it $oloch at the &ery moment it is crumbling down. In both

poems, those people ake up in $oloch4/insberg 1))(C >>5 the only way to

get beyond the allcontrolling system is to die in it and, hopefully, be

reborn into a different world. Although $oloch is demonic, there is

nonetheless ;the Angel in $oloch, stunned perhaps, but ne&er killed or

displaced 4"reslin 1)D(C &>5In other words, the reality of $oloch may be

*ust a screen, and another &ersion of reality is underneath it to be found

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by those who break through that screen. )he -uestion is, whether that

hidden realm is better than the realm of $oloch< At least in the case of

"insbergs poem, the awakening from $oloch turns out to be frightening and

fruitless the third part of %owl presents the narrator in a mental

institution locked as a patient, and so it is implied that the only form of

escape from $oloch is madness9 yet not the glorified, mystical and

prophetic kind, but the one leading to physical enclosure and

incapacitation e&en more palpable than before. )he lo&ers in illiams poem

might ha&e been more successful, as in the subse-uent parts of the poem a

coming of the "reat $other, representing &alues standing in absolute

opposition to $oloch, is described. It may be inferred that their

opposition to the world of patriarchal &alues was one in the series of

e&ents which made her coming possible, and their resistance was

significant.

%owe&er, if the =ootnote to %owl is read as an integral part of

the poem, the fate of those who escape $oloch becomes more ambiguous. )his

section may, on the one hand, confirm the pessimistic &ision of their fate,

as it may be read as gibberish incantation of a madman. :onstant repetition

of the word holy, chaotic runon sentences and a large load of

e!clamations indeed resemble the discourse of a madman. #n the other hand,

this part of the poem may also offer the sal&ation those madmen ha&e

looked for, if it is read as a &ariation on a :hristian hymn. =ootnote to

%owl, written in a celebratory tone resembling hitmans poems, presents

the &ision of the same world as depicted in the $olochsection it also

features solitudes of skyscrapers and pa&ements '...(, ri&ers of tears

'and( the lone *uggernaut 4>(5 yet percei&ed in a completely different

manner, as if the speaker had managed to break through the screen of

apparent reality and saw the beauty beneath it. )here is spirituality

behind the materiality of $oloch, and sal&ation is there to be found for

those who wake up in $oloch. ith such a reading, the poem offers

redemption and hope for the pre&iously mentioned social outcasts9 what the

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community labels as madness is, in fact, their inner di&ine potential. )he

final sections of , said the shotgun to the head.offer a similar reading.

)he reader is also faced with repetitions, e!clamations and indefinable

impressions of the poetprophet do you feel it yet ?ot unlike the inspired poetic &oice in

=ootnote to %owl, the speaker in illiams poem finds sal&ation beyond

the ci&ili@ation of the male god, beyond mannerisms and gestures 57028

social norms and constraints. hat seems important is the fact that in

both poems sal&ation was associated with the bodily, whereas the *uggernaut

was rather a mental prison. $ental $oloch> and $oloch whose name is the

$ind>, says "insberg 5628, whereas the soothsayer in illiams poem has

surrendered / 'his( beliefs / and found 'him(self / at the tree of life /

in*ecting 'his( story / into the &eins / of lea&es 58.Besignation from

mental constraints imposed by the estern culture a cultural suicide

leads to a disco&ery of the fact that 't(he essence of e&erything is holy,

only the form may be rotten or corrupted 5Stephenson 742 3418.

, said the shotgun to the head. inscribes in the tradition of political

poetry, re&i&ing the idea of messianistic rebellion so &i&idly present in

"insbergs works. According to the brief sketch of the ways in which

American poets ha&e approached sociopolitical situation of their country

in their works since the end of the orld ar II presented in the

Colitics, Cleasure and Coetry in the Dighties essay by Boger "ilbert,

after the tendency to escape into aestheticism in the latter half of the

742Es, poets in the Fnited States returned to o&ertly political themes in

the late 746Es. "insbergs te!ts, particularly poems such as America and

%owl, ha&e found their way into that trend of politically in&ol&ed works.

In the ne!t decade, poetry in America was still to a large e!tent concerned

with politics, although in a slightly different mode, one in which the

political realm becomes a mere pro*ection of the psyche, 51268

whereas in

the 74GEs the general tendency in poetry was a complete withdrawal from

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politics '...( in the face of the alltoo ob&ious failure of psycho

politics to change the national landscape, 51268which, speaking &ery

generally, has been continued from then on. In the mid746Es America was

a nation lulled into apathy by the prosperity of Disenhower years, 4&885

in the 74Es it was comfortable again with the Beagan economy, and later,

in the 744Es, with the general economic wellbeing under the presidency of

+ill :linton. %owe&er, *ust as the 746Es were not e!actly a decade of

peace and complacency, but also a decade featuring e&ents such as the war

in Horea and senator $c:arthys :ommunist witchhunt, the beginning of the

new millennium brought about a dramatic de&elopment in the political

situation of the Fnited States with the terrorist attacks of 1EE7 and the

subse-uent ar on )errorism and the in&asion in Ira-. )he sense of danger,

uncertainty and lack of stability awoke the need to reestablish the sense

of sameness and community among American citi@ens, who became e!tremely

willing to support and help one another, whether economically or

spiritually. Accordingly, many poets also belie&ed it to be their moral

duty to once again assume the position of the prophetic &oices of the

nation, pointing out the sociopolitical problems of their country and

calling their readers to action. , said the shotgun to the head.is a

result of the belief that power carries responsibility, and it is the

poets duty to open the eyes and the hearts of the nation. Asked about the

connection between his art and politics, Saul illiams stated that when we

deal with the current scheme of politics . war and people like "ush and the current regime

and all of these things . it?s e3tremely important for artists and people themsel!es to speak up

and connect their beliefs to their actions and to their artistry IJ We ha!e a greater

responsibility in this day and age because the go!ernment is not doing its responsibility#

4=ernansky &''95 0herefore Williams, similarly to /insberg, writes in the traditions of

messianism and ci!il disobedience, unmasking what he considers to be wrongdoings of his

country?s go!ernment and predicting a future go!erned by completely different !alues

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?inie*s@y artyku stanowi prJbK anali@y porJwnawc@e* wiers@y

autorstwa dwJch amerykaLskich poetJw , said the shotgun to the head.

Saula illiamsa ora@ M%owl Allena "insberga. #bydwa wiers@e pr@edstawione

@ostay *ako odpowied@i artystJw na wspJc@esnN im sytuac*K polityc@nN

5t@w. Mwo*nK @ terrorem w pr@ypadku illiamsa ora@ r@ec@ywistoOP @imne*

wo*ny u "insberga8, stanowiNce spr@eciw wobec amerykaLskie* polityki

@agranic@ne* ora@ prJbK podwaQenia obowiN@u*Ncych norm spoec@nych.

artykule scharaktery@owane @ostay gJwne elementy wspJlne obydwu utworJw

obecnoOP tradyc*i obywatelskiego nieposus@eLstwa, gloryfikac*a s@aleLstwa

*ako sposobu pr@eciwstawienia siK opresy*nym dogmatom spoec@nym ora@

po*Kcie wad@y *ako nielud@kiego, agresywnego aparatu.

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WOK;S =-0E6

"reslin, #aul 41)D(5 ThePsycho-Political Muse: merican Poetry !ince the "ifties,

=hicago

$ernans%y, Rachel 4&''95 0uning in with Saul Williams# inter!iew in !atya Maga#ine,

&''9, as posted on Alternet Accessed on March &D, &'11

httpC**wwwalternetorg*story*1G')1*@P&GaP9AQtuningQinQwithQsaulQwilliams*FpageR&

Gilbert, Roger 41))&5 0e3tured -nformationC $olitics, $leasure and $oetry in the Eighties,#

$ontem%orary &iterature !%ecial 'ssue: merican Poetry of the ()*+s, 1))&, (

&ishra, #an%a' 4&''(50he End of -nnocence,# The 0uardian, May 1), &''( Accessed on

&D March &'11 httpC**wwwguardiancouk*books*&''(*may*1)*fictionmartinamis

Stephenson, Gregory 41)D85?owl?C A Keading,# On the Poetry of llen 0ins1erg, yde,

7ewis, ed, Ann ArborC 9DG9)9

(horeau, )enry *avid 41))95 On the 6uty of =i!il 6isobedience,# $i2il Diso1edience

and Other 3ssays, Smith, $hilip, ed, MineolaC 11D

Will, George 4&''15 0he End of our oliday from istory,#4ewish World Re2iew, 1&September &''1 Accessed on March &D, &'11

httpC**www%ewishworldre!iewcom*cols*will')1&'1asp

Williams, Saul 4&''95, said the shotgun to the head., ew Bork

+ie%, Slavo' 4&''&5 Welcome to the Desert of the Real: "i2e 3ssays on !e%tem1er (( and

Related Dates, ew Bork

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