Final answer:
In 'A Supermarket in California,' Ginsberg lists 'enumerations' like 'peaches and penumbras,' and 'families shopping at night,' creating a connection to Walt Whitman's style of cataloging diverse aspects of American life. Ginsberg feels absurd imagining Whitman in a neon-lit supermarket, highlighting the contrast between consumerist America and Whitish naturalistic ideals. This scene underscores Ginsberg's critique of American consumerism and the shallowness of modern thought.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Allen Ginsberg's poem, A Supermarket in California, the enumerations Ginsberg refers to can be interpreted as a listing or cataloging of items and images that he encounters in his dream-like experience within a supermarket. This term connects back to Walt Whitman's own poetic style, which often included long lists of people, items, and elements of the natural world, capturing the diversity and abundance of American life. The specific enumerations listed in the excerpt provided are 'peaches and penumbras,' 'families shopping at night,' 'aisles full of husbands,' 'wives in the avocados,' and 'babies in the tomatoes.' These phrases give us vivid snapshots of the bustling, almost surreal, scene within the supermarket, as Ginsberg imagines showing the earlier poet—the great Walt Whitman—the modern consumerist landscape of mid-twentieth-century America.
Ginsberg feels 'absurd' dreaming of this supermarket odyssey with Walt Whitman because he is aware of the contrast between the commercial and materialistic world of the supermarket and the more idealistic and naturalistic themes of Whitman's 19th-century poetry. The incongruity of placing Whitman, a poet known for his celebration of human individuality and the beauty of the natural world, in the artificial glow of a neon-lit supermarket highlights the profound changes in American society and its values since Whitman's time.
The questions Whitman asks in the supermarket—'Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?'—are nonsensical and humorous when considered in a literal context. If posed to staff at a modern supermarket like Publix, Kroger, or Ingles, they might respond with confusion or practical answers about the origin and cost of products. These questions highlight Ginsberg's critique of post-World War II American consumerism and the stark difference between the market-oriented thinking encouraged in such settings and the lack of consideration for more profound, philosophical reflections on life, existence, and human connection.