A Class Blog exploring American literature and the American experience.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Equality
In 'Song of Myself' Whitman talks about the idea of what we normally think of opposites. He basically dismisses the idea of opposites and says that we are all the same. Does this hold any truth, and how does it apply today?
whitman includes everyone is his poems by saying he is all of those opposites and by saying everyone is the same. it applies today because at the center everyone is the same and nobody is better than another and we all r the same. but today we have different thoughts about this because whitman says a prostitute is equal to the president and neither are better. that is not true today people do not think this way and at the time of whitman people didn't either he just wanted to stick out and be different. it doesn't really apply today in the sense that all people r completely equal but in some cases it does apply because at the center of people and underneath we r all truly the same regardless of our social status
I feel that people are both opposite and similar at the same time. We all come from the same routes, and are all humans. However, other aspects of our lives such as religion, gender, race, and location differentiate us. Also, you might find a small group of people who are more similar to you than you could have expected. The amount of similarity differs depending on the people, but in some aspects we are all the same. We are all humans.
Whitman's idea that we are all the same still holds true today, in a way at least. If you look at the "larger picture" of humanity, we are all the same species, living on the same planet, with the same origins. However, as you decrease the scale of your thought, you can start to see that people really are different. You could then say that "The people in this part of the world are generally better off than the people in another part of the world". If you look at an even smaller sample of humanity, you could see even smaller differences, and could divide people up based on skin color, religion, or ethnicity.
I think that because many people today fail to think about humanity as a whole, as one unit, and tend to live within their own "bubble". They come up with ideas of opposites or enemies to their own way of life in their own bubble. I think that what Whitman is saying by dismissing the idea of opposites, is that they don't really matter, and that people need to think outside of their own lives. When he says that everyone is the same, he is looking at humanity from a larger perspective, that we are all the same people, living in the same world.
I agree with Oliver that opposites can be eliminated when you look "the bigger picture". I think that this is exactly what Whitman is doing in his poems. When he refers to "I" I think he is not only refering to himself but to the selves of each individual. When you compare two individuals there can be a lot of "opposites" but when you look at the bigger picture and group all individuals together, these smaller differences disappear and we don't see opposites as easily.
whitman includes everyone is his poems by saying he is all of those opposites and by saying everyone is the same. it applies today because at the center everyone is the same and nobody is better than another and we all r the same. but today we have different thoughts about this because whitman says a prostitute is equal to the president and neither are better. that is not true today people do not think this way and at the time of whitman people didn't either he just wanted to stick out and be different. it doesn't really apply today in the sense that all people r completely equal but in some cases it does apply because at the center of people and underneath we r all truly the same regardless of our social status
ReplyDeleteI feel that people are both opposite and similar at the same time. We all come from the same routes, and are all humans. However, other aspects of our lives such as religion, gender, race, and location differentiate us. Also, you might find a small group of people who are more similar to you than you could have expected. The amount of similarity differs depending on the people, but in some aspects we are all the same. We are all humans.
ReplyDeleteWhitman's idea that we are all the same still holds true today, in a way at least. If you look at the "larger picture" of humanity, we are all the same species, living on the same planet, with the same origins. However, as you decrease the scale of your thought, you can start to see that people really are different. You could then say that "The people in this part of the world are generally better off than the people in another part of the world". If you look at an even smaller sample of humanity, you could see even smaller differences, and could divide people up based on skin color, religion, or ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteI think that because many people today fail to think about humanity as a whole, as one unit, and tend to live within their own "bubble". They come up with ideas of opposites or enemies to their own way of life in their own bubble. I think that what Whitman is saying by dismissing the idea of opposites, is that they don't really matter, and that people need to think outside of their own lives. When he says that everyone is the same, he is looking at humanity from a larger perspective, that we are all the same people, living in the same world.
I agree with Oliver that opposites can be eliminated when you look "the bigger picture". I think that this is exactly what Whitman is doing in his poems. When he refers to "I" I think he is not only refering to himself but to the selves of each individual. When you compare two individuals there can be a lot of "opposites" but when you look at the bigger picture and group all individuals together, these smaller differences disappear and we don't see opposites as easily.
ReplyDelete