Purpose In Walt Whitman's O Me ! O Life !

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Every person has a purpose in life and should endeavor to discover that purpose. Finding your life purpose is immensely pivotal for a number of reasons. These reasons include experiencing new things and being an important person, such as being a parent. Another reason why people want to find their purpose in life is to be remembered. People want to be remembered for achieving commendable things, breaking records, saving lives, and much more. Furthermore, people want to be remembered for making a big contribution to the Earth, such as finding a cure to a disease, lowering the homeless population, donating large amounts of money to build important districts such as schools, hospitals, etc. Unfortunately, some people encounter negative forces …show more content…

Depression can be caused by bullying, losing a family member or close friend, going through abuse, or having a serious illness. Depression can lead to things like self harm and suicide. In addition, having little to no confidence can influence whether someone will chase their life purpose or not. Sometimes, they have no support. They have nobody to encourage them. Nobody to talk to or get advice from. In the poem, O Me! O Life!, By Walt Whitman, he says, “Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish”. The message he’s attempting to convey is that many people who, throughout his life, betray his expectations. He describes cities full of foolish people and reproaches himself for being no better than these faithless masses. He also says "o me!", "o life!" throughout the poem which is an example of Repetition. This repetition is used in the beginning and the end to confirm the distress that Whitman is experiencing. Moreover, fear is a large component in someone finding their life purpose. People tend to look at everything that can go wrong. They always look at the downsides. As Paulo Coelho once said, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of …show more content…

There are negative forces that deter us from striving to discover our purpose in life such as depression, low confidence, fear, financial problems, and health problems, but, on the other hand, the hunger for success, a healthy life, a family, adventure, new experiences, and much more, drive us forward. In the poem, O Me! O Life! By Walt Whitman, towards the end, he says, “That you are here—that life exists and identity”. Whitman answers his own question with this line. The message he is trying to convey here is that existence is enough of a purpose for humans to exist, and having life is reason enough for living. Whitman also says “the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” This is an example of a metaphor because he compares life to a play, and people to