Walt Whitman Glorification

In a time of uncertainty in America, an American writer, Walt Whitman, stepped in and decided it was his duty to speak up and defend democracy. Whitman envisioned democracy as something which reached much further into our lives than we realized, and that it was not simply a political system. According to Whitman, the idea of democracy was a beautiful thing that had the power to embody and unify all American citizens; meanwhile, at the same time he believed democracy enabled individuals to express their beliefs and incorporate unique customs into their everyday lives. Whitman offered ideas in his famous works Leaves of Grass and Democratic Vistas which explained that the advancement of literature and the development of a strong sense of nationalism

One of the writing tools Whitman utilizes in order to accomplish this task is using lists. In section fifteen of the poem he lists over two pages of observations that he has made of individuals living their daily lives in the city. He observes a wide variety of people; Whitman notes “the canal boy,” “the farmer,” “the prostitute,” and even “the opium-eater” in this lengthy list of characters he witnesses going about their everyday business. This list is a way for Whitman to illustrate the diversity in America, which he believes to be crucial to democracy. Another way Whitman portrays the complexity and sophistication of the individual is in section twenty four when he lists a set of adjectives to describe himself. Whitman uses “turbulent, fleshy, sensual,” and a few other adjectives to describe himself. The reason for this is because Whitman believes a few generic words to describe someone does not depict an accurate picture of the complexity of the individual. Another interesting aspect of lists is that in addition to emphasizing diversity, lists also reflect the main principles of democracy; each component on the list is weighted equally, just like each individual’s voice is weighted equally in democracy. Through his word choice and use of lists, Whitman is able to

He felt that, in a way, everyone experienced the same thoughts and feelings, and that we were more alike than we realized. This can be seen on the first line of section seventeen when Whitman wrote “these are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me.”. Here Whitman is clearly stating that the things he's thinking are not original to him, but rather men of different ages and backgrounds are thinking the same things. By writing statements like this, Whitman attempts to unify the individuals who are beginning to resent each other during this rough time for America. In my opinion, the most obvious time when Whitman tries to consolidate the divide in the country by showing a universal connection is in section sixteen. In this section he says that he, himself, is “a Southerner soon as a Northerner,” a “Kentuckian,” and also “at home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the Texan ranch.” I think that Whitman wasn't just talking for himself, but that he was actually speaking for all individuals in saying that we could form a stronger democracy if we realized that we are all connected and aren't as different as we believe. Whitman understood the importance of preserving the differences amongst individuals, but also knew that in order for democracy to function at its best, we must combine our