Allen Ginsberg is well-known as a Beat poet who condemns many aspects of contemporary American society. “A Supermarket in California” is no exception. This Ginsberg poem condemns both the lack of meaningful contact among human beings and American consumerism.
Ginsberg evokes Walt Whitman in order to help him emphasize the lack of meaningful contact. Whitman is a poet who could easily be Ginsberg’s muse. “What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman” (Ginsberg) is his invocation. Whitman was a poet who broke the rules of American poetry both in form and subject matter, much like Ginsberg did. He also wrote exploration poems of a meandering nature, much like Ginsberg. Whitman spent much of his life wandering, traveling from place to place. However, Whitman did meet a lot of people. Ginsberg doesn’t meet people here at the supermarket; he only sees them. Even the aisles separate him from his fellow human beings. Ginsberg’s criticism of our own lack of human contact is further exemplified when he says that he heard Whitman asking questions, like “Who killed the pork chops?” and “What price bananas?” (Ginsberg). As humans, we have lost any meaningful contact between shop owners and customers or even the people who actually grow and produce our food. The customers have no idea where the food comes from; they are content simply to wander through the store. They walk by each other in the supermarket and on their way home but never have any meaningful exchanges with each other. Ginsberg asks Whitman, “Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The trees add shade to shade, lights not in the houses, we’ll both be lonely” or “Will we stroll dreaming of our lost America of love past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?” (Ginsberg). Even walking home, all they will pass are automobiles and silent houses. Ginsberg is asking Whitman in these examples for some answers about humanity, but of course Whitman, long-dead can provide none. However, both parties know that Whitman’s dreams are certainly not here. Whitman’s America is gone.
American consumerism has taken over in the “neon fruit supermarket” (Ginsberg). People wander aimlessly looking at food. People look at objects in stores now, not the beauty of nature. Whitman wrote many a poem about his musings on nature. American consumerism has replaced many things including love of nature. American consumerism has numbed people and made us forget the value of real human contact. The produce has no history as we do not know where it comes from; we only buy it. We have no personal stake. Ginsberg longs to be part of Whitman’s America, not his own time. He wants to be a part of people looking at nature, not food in a grocery store. This is why the ending invoking Charon is appropriate. Charon is the person who carried the dead across the river Styx, so he literally transported people from the land of the living to the land of the dead. This shows exactly what Ginsberg wants to do. He wants to get out of this world of the dead and live in Whitman’s’ America where people actually had meaningful exchanges with each other and consumerism had not completely taken over. Whitman is his guide in Ginsberg’s present day land of the dead.
A Supermarket in California” is a typical meandering poem by Allen Ginsberg about an everyday event, shopping in a grocery store. However, he uses this seemingly simple poem to get at some more complex issues, such as consumerism and alienation in modern society. Using the famous poet Walt Whitman as his guide, Ginsberg shares what he sees and thinks on his shopping trip with his reader.
Works Cited
A Supermarket in California Analysis, Retrieved on October 12, 2007 at Web Site: http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/A_Supermarket_In_California_by_Allen_Ginsberg_analysis.php
