Poetry and Bukowski Essay

Submitted By floodgates13
Words: 3411
Pages: 14
Open Document
Don’t Try
Tristan J. Flood
North Pocono School District

Abstract
This paper explores the life and tragedies of Charles Bukowski, with accordance to his writing. It delves into the relationship between his love for the skid row lifestyle, isolationism, and women; all which become main topics of his poetry. Bukowski also found influences for his writing from his troubled childhood. Living with a an abusive father who did not support his creativity and a grade school experience filled with bullying, Charles Bukowski drove himself near to insanity with his drinking habits, which this paper details. This paper examines said relationships to Bukowski’s writing develop a thesis of Bukowski being a warrior for the poor and defeated. Keywords: drinking, women, alienation, skid row, Los Angeles

Don’t Try Waking up on the floor because of a combination of prescription drugs and alcohol. The stench of alcohol still lingering in the apartment. Only enough money to buy beer. On the street, men dealing illicit drugs, homeless people squandering for food, and prostitutes strutting on the corner. A lot of people around, but nobody to talk to. Such a lifestyle seems awful to most, but beautiful for Charles Bukowski. Bukowski’s tendency to steer against popular belief derives worship and hate from many. Although a universal accusation consists of Bukowski not being an actually decent poet, Bukowski never cared, writing large volumes of poetry at a time (O’Neil, 2007). Many poets refer to their work as art or craft; Bukowski believes the process of creating poetry entails merely trial and error. He once said that writing a poem, “is like taking a shit, you smell it and then flush it away… Writing is all about leaving behind as much stink as possible” (Kirsch, 2005). At the end of the day, Bukowski had no care for his criticism, but the readers he represents. He does not stand for the happy high school student or the successful businessman; “he stands for the defeated, demented, and the damned” (Elkins, 2003). Bukowski’s poetry contains many semi-autobiographical views of his struggles throughout life. Most of Bukowski's poems, coming from his past, exemplify the skid row lifestyle, representing the people with poverty, alcohol abuse, and problems with the opposite sex. By embodying the idea of representing the poor and afflicted, Bukowski expands this exemplification by his style, tormented background, and repetitive subject.
Style
Disfigured Free Verse
Charles Bukowski’s style has the essence of simplicity and ruggedness which flows naturally in his writing. “Bukowski's free verse is really a series of declarative sentences broken up into a long, narrow column, the shorelines giving an impression of speed and terseness even when the language is sentimental or clichéd” (Young, 2010). Such a style wants to give a feeling of a rugged narrator. The poems feel rushed to give that the impression the narrator lives a disfigured life. In the poem “Bluebird,” Bukowski infers through his writing and style, he has no time for his emotions to be let out: there’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you. (118)
The narrator has a fear that permitting his emotions out will consume him, thus he keeps his “bluebird” hidden. By equipping this poem with free verse, the narrator appears to be very tense or maybe not even sane (Jaeger, 1997).With the simple mode of presentation in the poems, having blank verse also coincides with the informal presentation of his poetry.
Conversational Poetry
The conversational style Bukowski presents gives a sense that the speaker sits down and tells his life story to the reader. “The effect is as though some legendary tough guy, a cross between Phillip Marlowe and Paul Bunyan, took a barstool next to you, and tell his life story” (Young, 2010). Bukowski uses simple everyday speech, despite some tragic
Show More

Related Documents: Poetry and Bukowski Essay

Literary Analysis On Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski is one of Americas best acknowledged writers of poetry and writing, and many would say he is a well-known inspiring and imitated poet. Bukowski was an alcoholic womanizer who died in 1994; he lived in Los Angeles, California for fifty years. His style of writing was astute, down to earth, realistic, autobiographical fiction. Implementing all of those things to Hank Moody. I was allured into Californication almost instantaneously especially after finding similarities to Bukowski. The…

Words 1136 - Pages 5

Essay on Physical theatre

Physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that pursues storytelling through primarily physical means. Several performance traditions all describe themselves as "physical theatre", but the unifying aspect is a reliance on physical motion of the performers rather than or combined with text to convey the story. In basic sense, you talk through hand gestures, body language, thought track and many more physical features. Dympha Callery suggests that all physic…

Words 6691 - Pages 27