Self-Reliance and Individual Resilience in 19th and 20th Century - Essay Example

?Self-Reliance and Individual Resilience in 19th and 20th Century American Writing American Literature, like any other literature, has always sought to unravel the different spheres of human life, such as social, spiritual, cultural, political and economic. It is through literature that writers and poets alike communicate various messages to the general public about the evils of not only the society they live in, but also the societies all around the world that they may have experienced. Despite its “Declaration of Independ ence”1 in the year “1776,”2 America was still not a fully free country until two centuries later. Even though the slavery system had been abolished and the lave trade was put an end to, the African’s who were brought to America were not given equal rights and were racially discriminated. It is not just the African Americans who faced such a discrimination, it was felt much so in the case of the women of the 19th and 20th century America. In the American patriarchal society, women had to conform to the notions of the society they lived in, and were further restrained from doing things they wanted. Despite being a patriarchal society, it was not entirely the case that men had the right to do whatever they desired. The individuals were not allowed to express themselves and were tightly wound by the rules and regulations of the society. Therefore, in such a scenario, various authors and poets tried to liberate individuals from the chains binding them to these meaningless norms of the soceity. One such prominent literary figure is Walt Whitman, known as the “poet of democracy,”3 who through his exceptional works aimed to depict a self-reliant individual in the 19th century American soceity. His poems basically are an epitome of individual resillence, which represent democratic ideals highlighting the egalitarian concept. Furthermore, his works also portray a utopian aspect where elements such as race, community, class and gender do not collide with each other, rather go hand in hand harmoniously. The most significant work of Whitman is his collection of poems named “Leaves of Grass,”4 which was first published in “1855,”5 and contains his worlwide acclaimed porm ‘Song of Myself.’ Although the poet explores a wide array of sujects through his poems such as “slavery, democracy,”6 the different occupations as well as types of work, the Civil War, poverty, “spirituality, and social change”7 etc, his main theme remains bringing to the fore the evils of the society in terms of how it tries to supress the individual self. However, the incrediblility of this poet lies in is his typical use of free verse that makes his poem a “celebration of nature”8 in contrast to the “lifeless rows of numbers and calculations”9 used in terms of meter, rhyme scheme, line structure etc by other poets. It is specifically through the deployment of the free verse that Whitman encourages individuals of his time to rise up against the norms of society and to do things that are right for them. Just as his free verse “rejects the traditional forms of poetry,”10 Whitman wanted that his readers reject the tradional norms and notions upheld by the society and break free of these shackles that they are bound to. His poem thus contained of long list of words that were basically “paratactic sentence structures and syntax-dominated lines”11 with which he intended “to create a poetic voice indicative of freedom, America, and the universe.”12 In terms of the diction used in the poem, it becomes clear that the poet takes insipiration from “every level of written and spoken language available to him”13 that is the speech he hears on the streets the “blab of the pave”14 as well as “the speech of the crafts, the languages of the professions, the vocabularies of science and technology and law and the pulpit.”15 Therefore, the poetic diction utilised in the poem does not contain much frivillous overrated complex words, which is typlical of nineteenth century poems, but rather contains a mixed diction including slangs, dialects as well as simple and easily understood words. Whitman’s devotion towards the self as well as the individual is expressed through the opening lines of his poem “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,”16 where he is not merely celebrating him but every individual in America. He tries to make his readers realize their worth and beauty through these lines. Furthermore, throughout the poem there is an exuberant tone, which reverberates otptimism that the common man or individual should have in his or her life. An analysis of Whitman’s life reveals that his personality was very socialist and he always tried to help others in need, disregarding his own needs and wants. His kindheartedness prompted him to take care of people who suffered injuries from the war, and through his poem he expressed his voice against the social injustice shown to the common man. From the lines “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person,”17 one can understand the empathetic character of the poet, his ability to see through the other person’s eye. Song of Myself criticizes the 19th and 20th century for degeneration of its values in terms of making discrimination against the common man based on race, ethnicity, class gender etc and sends a social message to both the prey and the predator. Whereas direct emphasis is given on the individual to rebel against the oprressive ways of society as well as middle class and rich people, the implicit message is towards the soceity to stop being involved in such inhumane activities. He encourages the individual to move forward in life and not give up, with respect to his own hope “to cease not till death.”18 He not only wants democracy to be viewed as a political order or system, but further wants it to be the way life is experienced. The literary analysis of Song of Myself reveal the poet’s emphasis on attributes such as freedom, individualism as well as diversity. The long lines in the poem which are sometimes differentiated by clauses, suggest that they are supposed to be read in one breath. Alliteration is a device that is seen in abundance in the poem, thus suggesting that Whitman wanted to create a sort of flow in the poem in terms of sounds. For instance, in the opening lines “I celebrate…myself/ And what I assume you shalle assume,”19 there is a repetition of the ‘s’ sound as well as ‘m’ sounds, thus pointing to alliteration. In the line “Creeds and schools in abeyance,”20 the sound ‘s’ is seen to be repeated, which again shows alliteration. The poem also contains an array of beautiful imagery, which is seen through lines such as when the author say that he is observing a “spear of summer grass,”21 “the play of shine and shade on the trees,”22 “stout as a horse”23 etc. Furthermore, the poet makes the audience feel what he feels through his sensory organs other than eyes, such as nose and ears. This is clear from the lines “the smoke of my own breath”24 “the sniff of green leaves and dry leave…hay in the barn,”25 which represent the smells he senses. Phrases such as “echoes, ripples, buzz’d whisper,”26 “the sound of the belch’d words”27 etc show what he hears. On the other hand, the lines “the beating of my heart,”28 “a few light kisses, a few embrace”29 etc depict his experience of the sensory feeling of touch. Whitman has deftly portrayed America as the “melting pot”30 that it is through his poem, which is expressed in the lines “I am…A Southerner soon as a Northerner…A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn…A boatsman over lakes or bays…Of every hue and cast am I, every rank and religion.”31 Social relationships are primarily expressed through “Individualism-Collectivism and Egalitarianism- Hierarchy,”32 and it is these two concepts that differentiate “nations and cultures.”33 A very significant concept portrayed in the poem is that of the dual personality or character that every individual is attributed with in the society. This multiple identity of the individual is present in terms of both his own personal identity as well as his collective identity of the community, religion, race, or soceity he belongs to. Therefore, it can be seen that man is responsible to fulfill his responsibilities within both these identities, as thw two identities are “significant for American individualism and democracy.”34 Thus, Whitman, through his poem, promotes both thse identities, however, rendering more prominence to the self identity rather than the collective one. In order to further understand the portrayal of individual in Whitman’s poetry, it is important to compare it with other poems of the same era. An apt example of poetry for this comparison is Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ and other literary works that can be used for comparison of exploration of self in 19th and 20th century literature include ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller and ‘I'm Nobody! Who are you’ by Emily Dickinson. Allen Ginsberg is another eminent figure of the 19th and 20th century American literature who was greatly inspired by Walt Whitman. Whitman’s poetry thus served as not just inspiration to the common man but also it brought out the artistic sides of various authors and poets, who then rose up to make history in both American literature and literature belonging to other parts of the world as well. Ginsberg composed ‘Howl’ in the year 1954 and “first read it publicly at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on October 7, 1955.”35 Howl primarily draws inspiration from Whitman’s own life where he expresses himself despite what the society expects of him. This can be traced back to the time when Ginsberg went to university, as he was not happy with the curriculum as well as he blamed his teachers for being “old-fashioned”36 and further read books “that were not encouraged.”37 Thus, through his poetry, he tries to communicate the same message to the audience, that is, not conform to the general conceptions of the society and forget the self amidst such commotions. In terms of the use of language in the poem, Ginsberg shows resemblance to Whitman, as Howl utilizes “language of the everyday and of Judgement Day—a language of the mundane and the apocalyptic.”38 An example that portrays this attribute is the comparison of lines “who wept at the romance…pushcarts full of onions and bad music,”39 and “Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone…Moloch the stunned governments.”40 Thus, there is a sharp contrast between the two lines in the sense that the former depicts part of everyday boring life, whereas the latter is like a prophesy of doomsday. Therefore, this shows how rapid Ginsberg’s thought process is and how fast he shifts from one train of thought to the other. Thus, this characteristic prompts the readers to stay highly alert when reading Ginsberg’s works. Furthermore, the structure of the poem corresponds to that of the “rambling style of speech,”41 which again highlights Ginsberg’s defying of traditional form of poetry of that time. The poem further consists of long prose-like verses just as in that of Song of Myself, and also it can be seen that the poem is mostly “long catalogues of thins and people and events,”42 which is again similar to Whitman’s poem. Both the poets showcase themselves or their life experience in the first parts of the respective poems. However, Howl is different form Song of Myself in the sense that some of the “lines, or strophes,”43 are really long and it becomes impossible to maintain the rhythm, as well as some are very short and feel “abrupt in isolation.”44 Despite the lack of rhythm, however, there is still some kind of flow to the poem, which expressed through repetitive terms and alliterations, for example, the repetition of ‘who’ in the beginning of some consecutive lines. While this is a planned alliteration, there are parts of the poem that contain unplanned alliteration that have come naturally to the poet and this adds to the beauty of the poem. Consider the lines “and who were given instead the concrete void of insulin…therapy pingpong & amnesia,”45 this is an example of Ginsberg’s style of “words packed together without clear grammatical structure.”46 This is so mainly due to the omission of commas, which does away with pause between elements being described and thus give a continued momentum to the read. This structure can be looked upon as the poet’s message to the individual to not give up or take breaks until they achieve their aims, to keep continuing the momentum of their lives. However, in places where punctuations such as the comma are used, the pause is over-emphasized, thus giving a unique style to the poem. Whitman’s poem has a similar impact, however, he uses ellipsis in order to bring a pause in the reading of the verses. Howl consists of “homoerotic credentials,”47 as is revealed by the lines “who let themselves be fucked…semen to whomever come who may.”48 In terms of diction of the poem, there are a lot of words, which are socially inappropriate that make the parts that consist them quite rough. However, the controversy of the poem lies far beyond these words, and this controversy is enhanced by the usage of drugs mentioned in the poem, both by the poet as well as his friends. It cannot be said that the poet was trying to promote such socially inacceptable activities through his poems, but he was trying to bring to the fore what was already happening in the society. Furthermore, he tries to stop the society from making gendered differentiations by invoking a “social margin deliriously unconcerned with social differentiation.”49 Through his epic poem, he breaks “taboos on public representation and performance of sexuality”50 as is shown through the several phrases such as “waving genitals.”51 The tone of the poet, on the other hand, is not the same like that of Whitman, Howl is indeed the howl of Ginsberg against the discriminations that society places upon the individual based on caste, creed, race and gender. In Ginsberg’s poem, he openly expresses homosexuality, which during those days was condemned by the society. Thus, Howl represents an angry protest against the societal norms and traditions, which aim towards not uplifting individuals but chaining them to customs that are thought to be right by the majority society. The third part of the poem consists of a base that is “I’m with you in Rockland,”52 and this can be perceived as the poet’s motivation to his readers, that he is with them no matter what happens. It can be seen as his direct support to the individual with regard to whatever it is that they want to do, but are afraid to do because of the constraints formed by the society. However, despite the resentment tone author shows throughout the poem, towards the end, that is in the ‘Footnote to Howl,’ the ending line “Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent / kindness of the soul!”53 shows “an unexpectedly positive ending to an apocalyptic poem”54 as well as a “high note of optimism and faith in the benignity of the human soul.”55 It is after all for the individual that the poet rages against the whole society in his poem, thus it transpires that Ginsberg promotes self-reliance as well as individual resilience through his poem, sending the greater message to the public to not be afraid of expressing themselves or lose their individualism after conforming to the notions of society for so long. Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman,’ written in “1949”56 tells the saga of Willy Loman, a “patriarch of a middle-class family from Brooklyn.”57 How this piece of literary work comes into play in terms of portrayal of individual by Whitman and Ginsberg is through the depiction of its protagonist, Loman. The play is based on “issues that many Americans had to deal with in 1949,”58 the time after “two world wars and the great depression.”59 Just like Willy, who gets fired from his job, there would be thousands of Americans who lose their jobs due to obsolescence. However, it is exactly for such people that Miller wrote this story, which indeed reflects his own struggles he faced when he was a youth. The playwright rotated between different kinds of jobs in order to support his studies in the university, and it was his determined sense of personal achievement to rise above this situation that made him conquer it all. Thus, through his Death of a Salesman, he tries to communicate the same message to the audience, that is, to rise up to the occasion and try to overcome the problems. What makes Miller different from the traditional playwrights and the way they portray tragedy is the lack of use of “doomed monarchs of the Western canon.”60 Whereas popular tragic figures such as King Oedipus, King Hamlet and Queen Phaedra represent characters of noble decent and with blue blood coursing through their bodies, Miller makes depicts an ordinary man in his tragedy. Loman, the main character in the story, has succumbed to “mechanisms of capitalism and the American dream,”61 whereas in contrast, his son Biff restrains from being brainwashed by the “American Dream.”62 Willy thinks that an attractive “personality wins the day”63 and that in the end it is hard work and appreciation by others that make up a successful businessman. However, this is just a false promise represented by the American Dream, to which Willy falls prey unlike his son. Miller thus warns the readers about this false promise that tries to make everyone uniform snatching away their very identity and turning them into nothing but ‘hands.’ The playwright makes use of both a sympathetic tone as well as a mocking tone, which raises questions against the validity of the American Dream. American Dream is a fantasy that has been concocted by the American society and Miller raises his voice against this illusory belief just like Whitman questions the society for their preconceived notions about the individuals based on class, gender and race. The diction used in the text is basically vernacular, which is again similar to that of Whitman’s and Ginsberg’s language. The dialogs portray the natural sentiments, humor as well as directness of the working class people, thus the audience can relate to the story on a lot of terms. Therefore, it becomes clear that Miller also uses his literary work to express contempt against the 20th century society for trying to suppress the individual and turn them into mere labourers. Emily Dickinson in her “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” tries to bring out a similar theme. She expresses her disagreement with people who try to become “somebody,”64 who are attracted to fame like a fly to light. She uses plain and simple language, which again shows how she does not want to be the “center of attention or a main focus in the world.”65 She feels that if people find out that she is a nobody then they will try to banish her. Therefore, she gives the message to her readers that they should not blindly follow fame or succumb to what the majority people are engaged in. This “always magical”66 poet portrays the importance of self in her poem and she shows that society has deranged to the extent that it will banish a person if they are nobody. Therefore, it becomes clear that the 19th and 20th century American Literature provide apt examples of the exploration of self as well as the portrayal of self-reliability and self-individualism. The most prominent example of this is Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself,’ where the poet asserts the importance of individualism by deftly defying the traditional conceptions held by the society both in terms of the composition of his poem as well as the content of the poem. This same point is further highlighted through the works of Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl,’ Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ and Emily Dickinson’s ‘I’m nobody! Who are you?’ Therefore, it becomes clear that these literary works explore the worth of self and emphasize its significance in the society. Bibliography AbuArab, Mohammad Al-Hussini and AbdeLatif, Nazik Mohammad. “Masterpieces of English Literature,” Banha University Faculty of Arts (2011-2012): 1-219. Accessed November 16, 2013, Academy of American Poets, “Guide to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass,” (2005): 1-8. Accessed November 16, 2013, Basabe, Nekane and Ros, Maria. “Cultural dimensions and social behavior correlates: Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. “The Poems of Emily Dickinson,” The Pennsylvania State University, (2003 - 2012): 4-21. Accessed November 16, 2013, Bittner, Hansjorg. “The Metrical Structure of Free Verse,” School of Modern Languages and European Studies, (1997): 4-196. Accessed November 16, 2013, Burroughs, John. “The Poet of Democracy,” The North American Review 154, no. 426 (1892): 532-540. Accessed November 16, 2013, Czachura, Jennifer. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson,” (2007): 1-5. Accessed November 16, 2013, Dickinson, Emily. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” Poem in your Pocket (n.d.): 1. Accessed November 16, 2013, Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl and Other Poems,” San Francisco, City Lights Bookstore, 1956. Accessed November 16, 2013, Hass, Robert. “Walt Whitman, Song of Myself and Other Poems,” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 28, no.1 (2010): 65-68. Accessed November 16, 2013, Individualism-Collectivism and Power Distance,” RIPS / IRSP, 18, no. 1 (2005): 189-225. Accessed November 16, 2013, Katz, Jonathan D. “Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Marcuse, and the Politics of Eros” (n.d.): 1-25. Accessed November 16,2013, Ku, Tim-hung. “Whitman’s Song of Myself: Multiple Identities in a Dual Context,” Bulletin of National Taiwan Normal University, XXVII, (n.d.): 427-437. Accessed November 16, 2013, Madden, Frank.“Instructor's Manual to accompany Madden,” Exploring Literature, (2004): 1-244. Accessed November 16, 2013, Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman,” Oxford, Heinneman Education Publishers, 1994.Accessed November 16, 2013, Olyaie, Donesh. “Death of a Salesman: An Introduction,” Yale Repertory Theatre (2008-2009): 3. Accessed November 16, 2013, Roland, J. “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,” Declaration of Independence, (1776): 1-6. Accessed November 16, 2013, Zivley, Sherry Lutz. “Madness and Modernism: Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”—Fifty Years Later,” University of Houston, (2005): 1-10. Accessed November 16, 2013, Read More