Whitman is exposed!!!! (not really lol)
| Me whilst reading this mess of a journal (and you most likely reading this blog post). |
- Page 1: nice cover, although the leatheriness makes it look kinda pretentious; if anyone in the 21st Century had this kind of journal, I probably wouldn't be their friend; worm down to show how much he used it.
- Page 2: Ok, so I have absolutely no clue what this chicken scratch is trying to say, but I notice the formatting maybe looks like a name on top (____ Taula?) with an address at the bottom (96 Court St?) The lacking of a second line for the "address" may indicate how localized he is, and maybe how Whitman may think broadly, but not in the way most would expect--in a geographical way, but rather in a philosophical way.
- Page 3: It looks like Whitman is crafting some sort of brochure involving a "dialogue between two characters." There is an official looking seal/stamp. It shows it is set between a man and a "President elect". I am guessing that the "President elect" in question is Abraham Lincoln, based on this mid 19th century setting, and the large "L" pictured higher on the page.
- Page 4: This page is where my headache began; some words that popped out at me were "Jew" and "Christ," considering the fact that I know that Whitman was not especially religious, or at least in the sense that he would pigeonhole himself into identifying as a Christian or a Jew. Maybe this indicates that Whitman is either being more explorative, or he is creating some sort of religious/political satire (I kinda doubt the latter, though).
- Page 5: Whitman gets kinda angsty on this page; he states things such as "I shall see how much you can stand" and "I...shall see the crash."
- Page 6: Here we go again with this red seal/stamp; in this he is mentioning the Queen of England and the Queen of Spain. I would say he is maybe conveying a message about power, but that doesn't seem very "Whitmany". I am officially confused.
- Page 7: HERE HE IS MENTIONING TRIALS AND WAVES WHICH INCREASES TENSION. Woah I didn't realize that was capitalized, but I'm too lazy to retype it so that's that.
- Page 8: Here Whitman goes again mentioning ships (what a crazy dude). He mentions crashing and blowing of winds, which may seem like he is going through a rough sea ride, but knowing Whitman it's probably some deep metaphor that goes completely over my head.
- Page 9: I can't read a lot of what is on this page, but he mentions wanting to do something before he dies and wanting to look back on something with joy. Honestly, what?
- Page 10: Ok I could read every single word on this page so go me. But, yes, this confirms my suspicions that the ship was supposed to be a metaphor. He mentions the ship circling the word and representing humanity and promise. He is maybe not referring to the ship itself but rather the act of exploring.
- Page 11: So now Whitman is getting ~artsy~ and drawing what I think is a self portrait. He doesn't show himself as being happy, though, but rather in a depressed state and contemplating life :(
- Page 12: Ok, I know this next one wasn't supposed to be funny but I giggled. Here I guess he is trying to showcase anger and the rough and repeated strokes in his drawing maybe indicates how meticulous and maybe how much his mind is constantly swirling and thinking (kinda similar to how Aza felt in Turtles All the Way Down).
- Page 13: This showcases a man who seems to be younger and wearing a hat, which maybe indicates wealth. His drawing seems as chicken scratchy as his handwriting, and it angers me.
- Page 14: This drawing seems to lack any sort of identification, which reminded me of how Whitman seems to incorporate the "everyman" into a lot of his poems. By creating anonymity, it makes it more natural for audiences to see themselves in the works of art.
- Page 15: Here he drew a harp. Wow. Ok so I'm guessing this is maybe an indication for his fascination for music and the aspects of life that bring happiness. He seems toile implementing music in his poems, and maybe this was his interests being poured out into his drawings one day.
- Page 16: Maybe Whitman is trying to create something else in the same way that he created that brochure. He is trying to create something called The Bohemian (and I'm guessing it has something to do with the news, as under it "Tate Saturday Press" is written.
- Page 17: I think this is a poem, since he labeled it "poem." He is going back to the Revolutionary War and maybe referring to it as the last war. He probably views war as meaningless and unnecessarily violent.
- Page 18: I never knew Whitman was goth?!?!?! Here he drew this emo skull with a heart and a sword plunging through it. He probably is trying to indicate heartbreak or something like that. I could see an annoying person getting this tattooed on them and thinking it's deep.
AFTER LOOKING AT THE NOTES
After looking at the notes, I realize that Whitman was much more immersed in culture than I may have thought. He often is shown referencing Lincoln (so I was kinda correct) and imagining conversations between them although they never really happened. He is also shown reacting to events that unfolded during the Civil War involving the disbanding of the Union and the decrees in consumed literature, causing many writers to go out of business. Whitman showcases dismay as a result of these events, and he begins to imagine outer concepts involving politics, like when he defines freedom and equality as going beyond borders, and religion, when he creates a god that is itself both Christ and Satan. He explores his views on Libertad by using the metaphor of a ship and its crashing and exploration represents his positive and negative views towards the concept. One thing I found interesting was that the sketches were not by Whitman but rather more likely by some of his drinking buddies. This makes sense though, as Whitman was not as secretive with his writing compared to other creators, and seemed to consider his story as the world's and the reader's story as well. I did not know that the hat was what Whitman wore, and I would like to imagine his friends teasing him about it--it makes him seem more human. Overall, after reading the notes I have more respect for Whitman, as he was able to provide commentary on the world around him to a greater extent than I once assumed, which is something that I value greatly. I like the fact that Whitman was aware of the culture and politics of the time and liked to give his views on them--and he wasn't afraid of the world knowing them either!

Good job on your analysis, I really liked how I could follow through on your thoughts and I could totally understand where you coming from hahah!! Your comments really made me laugh haha !! You did not make it to confusing!! Whitman is goth????? Whattt hahahaahhaah
ReplyDeleteI think your commentary on each of the pages was very funny and really showed everything that was going through your head as you wrote it. I like how sporadic and exclamatory your thoughts on each page were, and how you expressed emotion against an inanimate object hahaha. Overall I think your analysis after reading the notes becomes very clear and levelheaded as you realize what Whitman was doing and why he wrote some of the things the way he did. I feel like Whitman would have been a very random and impulsive guy, if his handwriting and the way he writes is any indication. I don't know, he just appears very scatterbrained quite often in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post, it was so funny hahaha! I like how you bullet pointed what you thought of for each page, that made it really easy to follow. I also thought a lot of your thoughts in the analysis section were spot on! Also, kinda random when you talked about him exploring his views through the ship metaphor it reminded me of that poem we worked on in class (I forgot what it was called) but he used a ship metaphor and it was after Lincoln died so yeahhhh haha, but overall great job!!!
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