Lawrence Ferlinghettis Politics :: essays research papers fc

Lawrence Ferlinghettis PoliticsI hope I wont seem too politically incorrect for saying this but afterimmersing myself in the writings of the guilt-obsessed neuter Jack Kerouac, theridiculously horny Allen Ginsberg and the just plain sordid William S.Boroughs... its nice to read a few poems by a guy who can buy off excited about a slim candy store under the El or a pretty woman letting a stocking flatten out to thefloor (Literary Kicks).For casual reading, Lawrence Ferlinghettis poetry is cheerful andhumorous. At best it is a welcome break for the mainstream of the beatgeneration. Inside his poetry, deep rooted criticisms of the coupled Statesexist. Ferlinghetti has had an anti-government attitude since the 1950s. Hisbeliefs strengthened when he was put on trial for publishing a highlycontroversial collection of poems written by Allen Ginsberg. LawrenceFerlinghetti has chosen to submit his political views through his poetry.Additionally, Ferlinghetti became more vocal with the u se of protests andfurther publication of controversial and/or anti-government materials throughhis publishing house, New Directions. By using poetry, Ferlinghetti was fitted toreach a vast audience including those whom he was criticizing. Through hispoetry, Lawrence Ferlinghetti blatantly and subtly criticized the Americandemocratic system and politicians.In 1957, Ferlinghetti received his first national attention.Ferlinghetti was arrested and brought to trial as the publisher of a collectionof begrimed poetry, Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (Alspaugh 1148).Eventually he was cleared of the charges of publishing and sale of obscenewritings. Since his involvement in the obscenity trial, Ferlinghetti becamequite cynical of the government. After the trial ended, Lawrence Ferlinghetticanceled all government grants coming to him and to any writers under hispublishing house. Currently he still disallows the acceptance of governmentgrants to any of his writers (Alspaugh 1146). Ec onomically speaking,Ferlinghetti did benefit from the trial. The publicity created by the trialattracted new names to New Directions Publishing. The publicity also was keenenough to propel Lawrence Ferlinghettis image to the degree where he couldsuccessfully release his second collection of poetry, A Coney Island of the Mind.In most of Ferlinghettis work, he has shown a concern with political issues. His poetry often addresses political subjects... (Nasso 196). The KennedyAssassination, McCarthyism and the Vietnam conflict were all topics in severalFerlinghetti poems (Oppenheimer 136). Lawrence Ferlinghettis past incidentsinvolving the government influenced his poetry and consequentially he has littlerespect for government. Ferlinghettis... poetry offered blatant tiradesagainst the destructive tendencies of Americas political leadership (Trosky136).Politics are themes in virtually all of Ferlinghettis works.