America
This poem seems very controversial. Allen writes the poem with a certain attitude of spite and anger. He write to America in a political view and a representation of what he's experience though out his life. It seems like he is talking about the post or pre-World War 2 with the fight against communism and foreign Asian policy. He is stating his cultural, political aspects and references.
Allen also refers to events that he recalls throughout his life. The structure and the irregular text seems to be his signature of his poetry writing.
At first in the poem he seems as if America has done so much damage. Through the poem he talks about the Asian society and how his relationship with the Asians has been. Allen also uses slurs which could have been acceptable during that time. Poem seems to be unorganized no punctuation, long run on sentences, and lil reference or similarities to each continuous line. The main point of his whole shows his reaction, point of view, and political perspective. The long run on sentences show his true feeling of built up run on emotions he's been keeping inside. He first seems to be spiteful against America but to only find out a part of him is America. Then he seems to ridicule a taunt America for the militarized culture, and the vapid media.
He wrote about America as if he was a lose lover. He tries to find a basic foundation of similarities between him and his country. But his attitude still sends a patriotic message. Allen admits that he cannot "give up my obsession." It is an obsession with the promise of America, with the things that he once believe deeply in: justice, tolerance, freedom, and acceptance. Only to be a disappointment.
Don't know that I'd go so far to say the poem is patriotic, though it does try to hold up the ideal against what is, the speaker representing a dis-eased psyche, the result of a diseased cultural condition--see the study materials and my comments on other blogs; the "slurs," etc, are satirical
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