Witty Whitman

Whitman seems to have been very ahead of his time, at least in terms of his beliefs about people and the future. For example, within his journal, he mentions how America was like a stagnant cesspool, who needed a storm to shake itself up. He then describes Lincoln, a presidential candidate, as a captain of a ship, which was his way of saying that Lincoln was to be the leader throughout the country’s time of turmoil. This is significant because Lincoln WAS our leader through slavery until his assassination - this helps show that Whitman had a good sense of what was to come for the United States. Similarly, Whitman also focused on the principles of democracy, and how, if the United States wished to endure, they would need to lean on the foundation on which the country was started. Later in his journal, he mentions that the South’s secession was treacherous for democracy and even treasonous. Afterwards, he would write about the Union’s potential failure, stating the liberty and freedom would outlast the most longstanding republics or governments. During the modern era, these would be viewed as words of encouragement, as democracy and republicanism are the two most accepted practices of government around the world, in terms of treating people fairly and equally.

Whitman also places heavy emphasis on religion within his journal. He brought up the idea of a “four-sided god”, one where Jesus Christ and Satan would be included. This idea comes from how compassion, fighting, and determination all existed during the Civil War as neighbor fought neighbor and brother fought brother. Whitman most likely saw the compassion through the anti-slavery North because he himself hated slavery and wanted it to end. Similarly, once the war had broken out, he saw how resolved both the North and the South were to win the war, and admired the North’s resolve to stand up for the rights of everyone. I think that Whitman felt the need to “invent” a new god because his beliefs didn’t quite fit in with any individual groups’. He was more focused on the life as it was, rather than an idealized version of life, as presented in most religions (specifically Christianity, as that was the dominant religion in the 1860’s). To me, this shows that Whitman wanted to be a part of a strong-willed community, which may be one reason why Leaves of Grass is so focused on the idea of universal brotherhood. Similarly, I think that the motif of mental or spiritual journeying shows up in Leaves of Grass because Whitman himself contemplated the multitude of daily issues and realized that he grew as a person from it - something I think everyone could learn from.