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Compare And Contrast Walt Whitman And Individualism

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The concept of individualism or individuality has been the soul of Walt Whitman and Allama Iqbal’s poetry. Both employed it as a tool to awaken the sense of democracy and patriotism in newly freed Americans and still-in-seek of freedom Muslims.
Bellah et al (1968) mark Whitman as a representative of ‘Expressive individualism’. Being an expressive individualist, Whitman refutes all the principles of utilitarian individualism and emphasized on the freedom to express one’s true self and desire against all odds of the society (cited in Nakamura, 2013).
Regarded as the celebration of the unchanged spirit of modernization, individuality, and development of the Americans, Walt Whitman works emphasis on the unique identity of every individual and that every individual exert himself to realize this individuality by going through different challenges of life (Devardhi, 2008).
Walt Whitman’s idea of individualism has its origin in Greece. He regards individualism as a torch that saves a man from dwelling in a dark miserable hovel where he is devoid of truth; by leading him towards enlightenment. For Whitman, the individual and the state are not separate entity just like T.S Eliot who says, “A man is not himself unless he is a member; and he cannot be a member unless he is also something alone.” That is the reason why Whitman regards individualism as a means of achieving democracy (Carnahan, 1955).
In Whitman’s world, it is the individual that only matters. He believes that “an
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