An Analysis Of Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

With the discovery and colonization of the New World came the promise of a new life. A better life, at least according to individuals like Captain John Smith who described the New World as a land of plenty. A place where even an unskilled fisherman can hook three hundred cod, and where tradesmen “…by their labor may live exceedingly well.” (62-63). The south of this new continent was even called “a paradise, that could be attained with human effort” (72). This was an astounding idea to those born into the packed populace of the established world. The hierarchal system of the Old World had long been cemented. So, for the “…fatherless children …, or young married people…” or anyone who was not born into wealth, opportunities to improve their

Walt Whitman, the first Poet Laureate of America, continues this idea in “Song of Myself” and many other works noting the importance of self-celebration, and how within the individual “…every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” (1166). And that the whole of the world exists in the individual too. Emily Dickinson, the shadow poet to Whitman, also practiced seclusion, not even publishing her works, and instead (Poem 709) stating, “Publication—is the Auction/ Of the Mind of Man— “(1269). Her poetry and her life were completely for herself as an individual, albeit a quirky one. A sort of silent celebration of the importance of the individual’s experiences and

Wolfe, the main character, confronted by personifications of greed, intellect, and empathy asks for help escaping the pointless, starving life he lives. For despite his value as an individual, as an artist, he is reduced to a part of the machine in the mills because of the circumstances of his birth. These men or personifications do not help, instead, they drive him to his death by suicide essentially destroying any part of the individual that still existed (1128- 1138). As America became a more established country, and industrialization— like the iron mills— took hold, like Old-World decades before the individual was being lost in the crowd. Mark Twain, like the writers mentioned before, observed this shift of society and revolted against it in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. In one climax of the story, Huck is forced to either betray his friend, or society (the latter damning him if he does). He response is one of the most quoted lines in American literature: “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (1478). Huck protects his friend, and himself as an individual by betraying the beliefs of society. This is one of Twain’s points in this story. If the individual is to survive, they must stand against society instead of just accepting