Blog #14: What a Wonderful Writer Walt Whitman Was

Step One) Walt's journals are very interesting. They remind me of an abstract piece of art, with random phrases and words strung together to make an aesthetic page. If you read the words out loud, they don't necessarily make sense, but they sound right. Furthermore, Whitman draws several pictures of a man with a beard in different contexts. In one the man is wearing a hat, in another, he is shaded rather darkly. This reminds me of Jekyll and Hyde for some reason, maybe a bit of duality? This would make sense, as Whitman was writing during a time in which his ideologies were not popular. Many of his drawings are dark or abstract, such as a skeleton. This reminds me of Tim Burton. Finally, Whitman references many geological points of interest. For example, he writes "Old England," crosses it out, and then writes "Old England" again, only before crossing it out. I feel like this is characteristic of Whitman's desire for equality and one united world made of many different people.

Step Two) It is interesting to think that Whitman admired Abraham Lincoln as much as he did. Though it makes since, Lincoln and Whitman both advocated for equality, to different degrees, I don't see Whitman as the type to look up to someone. He seems the type to consider Lincoln as a friend or a colleague more than a role model or celebrity. The most interesting part, to me, is the skeleton. I think of Whitman as an eternal optimist, like Gatsby. However, the skeleton sketch makes a negative commentary on the future of America. As the sun sets, the skeleton shrugs at his pierced heart, almost as if the skeleton is Lincoln and the heart is the "democratic experiment." This sketch is uncharacteristic of Whitman, and I'm not sure if I like it.