This is a pessimistic view of human nature. It's powerful writing and has provoked strong reactions from students. However, it's only ONE view of the world and it's important to remember that writers are as diverse a group as any other group of people. Think of all the different types of personalities you know in school or among your family.
Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets is one way that I maintain emotional balance in my life. There are dark angry moments but he never loses his faith in the power of love. So do look at my post on Shakespeare's sonnets too!
Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets is one way that I maintain emotional balance in my life. There are dark angry moments but he never loses his faith in the power of love. So do look at my post on Shakespeare's sonnets too!
Stating the obvious, the poem is about hatred, bur it’s also about how hatred can fill an individual up with an intense, almost genius-like energy. I feel Bukowski looks at hatred and tried to figure it out by reading into it, by trying to understand what it is exactly that makes ‘hatred’ tick.
ReplyDeleteIndirectly he poet puts across that hatred is the average man’s substitute for art or creativity. Hatred is something everyone can do without trying, it makes you feel creative and strong, sometimes – even sure of yourself, but the end of it it’s still a blind alley. But in a way, hatred is a sort of “talent” that all of us possess and that is exactly what Bukowski is trying to put across.
I love how Bukowski rejects all other forms of art and creativity but concludes by stating that hatred is "perfect". This statement is quite complexed as we never see hatred as being a thing of perfection. Its general nature strikes a chord within us to reject is as society rejects just because of its consequences. But if we look at it from a distance, we see how even such a strong and gruesome emotion like hatred can achieve success.
ReplyDeleteBukowski is being realistic in his writing. It's almost like a bitter pill to swallow, an inconvenient truth if you must. But it is impossible to deny that hatred has been one of the most successful emotions in altering human history. I just saw the link of Hitler and Stalin on the TOK blog and it's quite easy to draw parallels between their stories and Bukowski's misanthropic poetry.
Also, this poem includes easily one of the best, most striking and controversially thought provoking opening lines ever
ReplyDeleteWhile researching for my IOP, I came across this quote by Bukowski.
ReplyDelete"I see men assassinated around me every day. I walk through rooms of the dead, streets of the dead, cities of the dead; men without eyes, men without voices; men with manufactured feelings and standard reactions; men with newspaper brains, television souls and high school ideas. Kennedy himself was 9/10ths the way around the clock or he wouldn't have accepted such an enervating and enfeebling job -- meaning President of the United States of America. How can I be concerned with the murder of one man when almost all men, plus females, are taken from cribs as babies and almost immediately thrown into the masher?”
This quote alienated me from any feeling of sympathy for the 'streets of the dead', but instead, forced me to pity how pathetic the human race is. Bukowski pulled me onto his side, with his lucid and effective writing. I love the line about men with newspaper brains and television souls
Obviously, Bukowski's cynicism of human nature is reflected in his other works as well, including 'The Genius Of The Crowd'. What makes the poem so striking is that although it harshly criticizes humans, it isn't a rant. It's truthful, and we all find some element of ourselves in it.
Although there is a sense of truth in what Bukowski states, I believe that the poem is rather extreme. Undoubtedly, there exists hatred within each of us; it is inevitable, it is influential. But in his claim that there exists no love and peace, I feel that Bukowski is so passionately drawn into hatred, that he forgets that there is a good side to mankind. Having said that, one can understand Bukowski’s state of mind. This shows that when one is faced with ‘treachery, hatred violence absurdity’, it is most likely that they will never acknowledge the positives of life. It can be likened to a sinking ship; once you’re in it, it’s hard to survive. To a certain extent, one can say that Bukowski is taxing his dispair and anger on the reader of the poem and society in general, and that forms the crux of this vehement poem.
ReplyDeletevery imaginative and insightful comments from all of you, well done! It's great too that there is a range of responses, reminding us that we are exploring literature not seeking 'the answer' but rather respecting the question.
ReplyDeleteThough 'The Genius Of The Crowd' is an extreme poem, the poet, Charles Bukowski portrays to us the bitter but factual truth of society. In the poem he mentions that every man is filled with enough hatred to 'kill anybody'. He labels hatred as one of mans creativity and describes it as 'their finest art'. He also condemns people for being hypocrites, and rightly so. I believe that it is true that people use hatred as one of their most effective tools and often do not hesitate to use it to destroy others. Besides, people are also hypocrites accused of giving misleading appearances.
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