Reading Whitman's Diary

This feels like an invasion of privacy

Step 1: 

Going in order, the first thing I noticed on the first page is his mention of his friend, who would later be killed in the war in 1862. Knowing the historical context of some of Whitman's poems, it seems apparent that The Civil War played some role in the topics of Whitman's poems. On the second page titled 'brochure', the focus is on the president. Once I saw the words president and president elect, I was able to figure out that L______ must've been referencing Lincoln. I think it is safe to infer that Whitman admired Lincoln, or at least didn't hate him, because of the fact that the words used were positive. A thing that was interesting to me is how it is his journal/diary however he doesn't seem to be using any code names. He writes things just as he thinks them and doesn't worry about keeping anything secret. He then references religion briefly, and mentions a third religion. This is interesting to me because that seems so finite, how he only thinks that there are two religions at the time? Continuing through the pages, he asks himself questions and then answers them later which is intriguing because it is almost as if he writes them down, thinks about them or asks others, and then comes back and writes his answers, almost as if he is conducting some sort of research or investigation. It is revealed through his journal entries that he is a very thoughtful and philosophical person who's sole goal is to find answers to life's deepest questions. He focuses a lot on the idea of liberty, which now having read some, is very fitting because a lot of his writings are about personal freedoms and not only being able to make your own choices, but encouraging that. 'Libertad' is a term that is used throughout these pages, and is even sometimes used as the subject or a symbol of something. Later on in the book there are images drawn of Whitman, who historians speculate were not drawn by him, which is actually kind of peculiar. Why would he want images of himself in his own notebook? More so, why would he hire someone else to draw it? What inspiration did that bring him? The next drawing is also of Whitman, but this one was more interesting to me because it portrayed him with a large head. While some people could perceive that as arrogant or conceited, I actually found it to be an accurate representation of him and his depth of thought. I think that it represents how he was very far ahead of his time with ideas that were beyond comprehension for other people, and that's why he has a larger head than everyone else. Overall, I think that without a basic understanding of Whitman and his beliefs and ideas, it would be difficult to understand the essence of the thoughts written down inside of this journal.

Step 2: 

Firstly, I was right about the part concerning his friend and World War II. I was also correct in assuming that the L_______ was representative of President Lincoln, however I did not pick up on the fact that that page was Whitman imagining a conversation between the two of them. This new information confirms my idea that Whitman admired and appreciated President Lincoln. The part about two religions I found to be actually referencing the divide between politics and philosophy. Knowing this now, I think that is what Whitman was trying to get at with his writing. He wants to mend that far between the two and allow them to coexist. Later, he starts to talk to Libertad as if it is human, which supports my idea that he was using Libertad to represent different things or characteristics. In terms of the pictures, it says that they were based off of photographs taken, which explains why they are so realistic. It also says that he LOVED having his portrait drawn, which I guess supports people who might claim he was arrogant. Overall I think that no one can ever REALLY know what he was thinking when he wrote it, and that is kind of the beauty of it all!