The Beat Generation: Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg

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Recommended: American culture in the 1950s

“It was John Kerouac…who several years ago…said ‘You know, this really is a beat generation…” (Moran and Gannon). The Beat Generation or also known as, “Beats” is a name that was used to characterize the leaders of the movement in the 1950’s that sailed through the American culture post World War II as a balance to the suburban conformity and organization - man model that controlled that time period (Moran and Gannon). The Beat Generation was a different kind of group that went against the norms of society. Their culture expressed the rejection of received standards and materialism, innovations in styles, alternative sexualities, experimentation with drugs, an interest in Eastern religion, and explicit representation of the human condition. The Beat Generation which included Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg, embraced originality and individuality in the way people thought and acted during that time period and it still has its effect in today’s world.
The themes of the Beat Generation helped to pave the way for today’s society which included disillusionment, social nonconformity, and spontaneity. Disillusionment is considered to be the main theme of the movement and “…it was the reason for the split from mainstream society that the Beats had originally desired” (Beat Movement). In that period, some people didn’t like the idea of the lifestyle that was considered normal; the traditional spouse, having two kids, and a white picket fence (Beat Movement). These people that didn’t like the idea were disillusioned from postwar contentment which led to them to starting a protest against the social norms that to them were considered more of social control than a style of living. Another known theme of the Beat Genera...

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... Ginsberg became popular quite quickly after that reading and in 1956 Howl & Other Poems was published. He then died on April 5th, 1997 in New York of a heart attack while dealing with liver cancer. These writers along with others still have the ability to influence those of today’s society.
To conclude, the Beat Generation was one of the most influential literary movements. It has embraced originality and individuality in the way people thought and acted during that time period and it still has its effect in today’s world. With Ginsberg’s Howl, the idea of what was considered adequate literature was expanded incredibly. They helped to abolish censorship through literature and the Beats pushed discussions of ecology and environmentalism into the mainstream (O’Hagan). The Beats paved way for American society to express themselves in any manner that they wish to.

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