Hello 4. Explain the main idea contained in the section of the poem where the excerpt belongs. The main idea is to show his empathy with his friend, who is entrapped in a psychiatric. Solomon is compared with God, and also as a best mind. His life is being destroyed by madness and shock therapy. Ginsberg admired a great deal Solomon. The main goal of the author was to denounce the abuses that were happening at mental institutions at that time. Although he didn’t look for controversy and fame, the poem became very criticized not for what Ginsberg wanted but for sexual obscenity. 5. How does the excerpt evidence the influence of other literary authors and traditions? The Bible and the Christian Church is reflected in the imagery. The traditions in the mental institutions as the presence of the games as the term ping pong and the term lose; the presence of a musical instrument the piano. This mental institutions are portrayed with military terms, (bang, died, armed) as this period was the post WWII. Ginsberg is influenced by Nietzsche’s “superhuman”, a term used by the 19th century to denote the secular epitome of human, psychological, spiritual and physical dominance. This “superhuman” is Solomon. Regarding the form of the poem it is highlighted the strong influence of Whitman, with the use of long lines and repetition to give it a syncopated rhythm.