An Analysis of an Extract from Ballad in Plain Be Flat by Bob Dylan

The Chaotic Tone in Ballad in Plain Be Flat by Bob Dylan

In Ballad in Plain Be Flat, Bob Dylan portrays the youth’s attitude towards the societal norms of the 1960s, creating a hectic tone through his word choice, vivid depictions and grammatically and structurally disoriented sentences. Also, the author fortifies his expressions by utilizing the stream of consciousness technique, giving the readers the ability to observe the narrator’s thoughts first-hand. It is evident, throughout the abstract, that the narrator exhibits an unconventional behaviour, adding to the chaotic tone that is already prevalent. Initially, the narrator disregards long-established religious trends, as illustrated with the words “bloody crucifix” (lines 9 and 10). Secondly, the narrator criticizes the old society’s appreciation of proper education as the sole indicator of adequate personality using the phrase “see you when I get my degree” (line 42), suggesting that without a degree the narrator is not even allowed to be with his lover. Thirdly, the narrator makes assorted references to widespread violence, as underlined by words like “screamed” (line 3), “dying” (line 18), and “fighting” (line 18). Moreover, the narrator hints that this act of violence is not specific to certain people, however, has become commonplace, as subtly implied by “tom dick & harry” (line 2), a phrase that has become synonymous with “everybody” in casual dialect. Moreover, the fact that there is a shortage of capital letters in this excerpt and that some words that have been capitalized before are not capitalized afterwards, as with “Cincinnati” (19 and 25), bolstering the overall untidiness. Equally, the same disorder goes for punctuation; some sentences are inappropriately punctuated, meanwhile others, just as “no wonder you want to start a revolution” (lines 26 and 27), do not contain any punctuation marks at all. In conclusion, in Ballad in Plain Be Flat, the author exerts prominent illustrations, a unique word choice, and a perplexing structure in order to form a tumultuous tone that represents the youngsters’ approach to many of the 1960’s customary conventions. 

-Bora