Journal #37: Whitman Response

Well in this paper about Whitman the author expresses sentiments that were similar to my own when reading Whitman initially. I still have mixed feelings on his writings and his poetry as a whole but I believe I am beginning to warm up to him. The authors states that he believes Whitman is an egotistical, narcissistic maniac. Initially this is how I felt, and I still do feel this way to an extent. The author seems to be taking the straight forward and literal approach to Whitman's work which makes Whitman seem like a self-obsessed fool. After reading deeper the reader learns of Whitman's concept of "self" and the author of this reaction to Whitman's work seems to neglect the deeper interpretation of Whitman's work taking the straight and narrow path of analyzing Whitman's work which on the surface does make a convincing case that Whitman was simply an egotistical nutjob. If the author of this reaction would have analyzed the work and known what Whitman had been talking about then maybe he would have no been so critical of his works, but in his defense most people would not initially look for the deeper meaning behind the poem and only scratch the surface of his works. If one were to do this then they would easily miss the deeper meaning of Whitman's "Self" and simply see that Whitman was a crazy old man with a beard who thought he was the greatest man in the world with none even comparing to him. I have mixed reactions on the author's take on Whitman's work as I agree with him on some points and yet still find myself doubting when it comes to Whitman altogether. The whole egotistical aspect comes into play with me and I am not able to quite grasp the concept of Whitman's spiritual "self" but hopefully with time I will open up to the idea and be able to fully understand the concept of Whitman's work.