Journal #40

Throughout all of Whitman's poems, there is a central idea of exploring a concept he made up which deals with inner struggles and emotions. I feel like this Self idea is more about the introvert within all of us than anything. Not only are his poems about subjects that had not been studied yet, but they are usually just plain weird. For example, I analyzed Whitman's "We Two Boys Together Clinging." In that poem, Whitman suggests his homosexuality in that the two boys mentioned in the title are forever bound by love. Few writers, if any others, were homosexual in this time period, and it was even more unlikely that one would write about his or her homosexuality in general writing. Whitman helped move more and more homosexual writers into publishing their works, but his beliefs also crossed against Christian views. Homosexuality is viewed commonly as unchristian because God did not include any accounts of homosexual acts in the Bible, being interpreted by many as considering homosexuality a bad thing. I think the Self should not consider the opinions of others in anything. The only really important voice to listen to should be the one inside yourself because you are the only one who actually knows what you want out of life. Furthermore, I think the Self inside myself is always right. I should stand up for what I believe in, and that belief should be represented in the ways I think. Also, the Self is very condescending in that it says gods are within all of us. I do not think it is fair to assume this from Whitman's Self because not everyone holds high society roles, and many of those people without those positions are not looked up to by anyone. They tend to take advantage of the system, an ungodly trait, and lie to get what they want. Keep in mind, this whole time, I should be saying "we" because I am also a victim of these thoughts. But, a god is something to be admired - something beyond special and not anywhere near a mere mortal's grasping.