Compare And Contrast Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass And Don Delillo

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and Don DeLillo’s White Noise were written over a century apart. In that time there was a significant change in the mentality between what it was to be an American and how much of a person’s identity was a part of their nationality. Over time, the American people have created a more negative outlook on society. While Whitman remains more positive and proud of being an American, DeLillo has adapted a more cynical perspective. There are several poems from Walt Whitman’s collection of Leaves of Grass that portray his particular belief in the American identity. In the poem, I Hear America Singing, the repetitive manner tells of how each individual is the same but also each keeps his or her own special place. Each

Much of Whitman’s work deals with the lightness and beauty of nature whereas DeLillo focuses on the destructiveness to nature, seen when Jack and his family are watching natural disasters on the television. Their views on equality also differ. Whitman sees all men and women are the same and are all just as important in the grand scheme, DeLillo focuses on if a person has money or is of a greater importance, he or she is not going to be the one hurt by a disaster. This is seen the beginning of the Airborne Toxic Event when Jack repeatedly states to his family that they do not need to evacuate because he is not the type to be effected by disaster because he is a college professor and head of a department. He also states that the only people who are effected are those who live in mobile homes or

In Whitman’s poem A Song, he states, “I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America,” (6-7). DeLillo mirrors this when he talks about him and his family being together, even if they never truly say anything. There are two examples of this, the first being the Friday night TV tradition and the second being when the whole family goes out and eats fried chicken in the car. They are together, soundlessly communicating each other’s needs and wants. Although Whitman’s sense of togetherness is on a much larger scheme, they both understand the fundamental need for