Together

In the fifteenth section of his poem “Song of Myself,” Walt Whitman lists jobs, typical and unusual, that make up a society or community. He says that all people, the president, slaves, lunatics, and even the neighborhood prostitute, have respectable jobs. He says that everyone fits in somehow and belongs just as much as the next person. While this would be incredibly nice if it were true, this is an overly optimistic way of looking at the world. There are some "jobs" that aren't socially acceptable and are looked down upon, such as being a prostitute or an insane person. Even most traditional jobs, such as literary press workers or the president, aren't on the same level like Whitman tries to imply that they should be. If all jobs had the same value, there would be nothing special about any one profession. While Whitman is saying that no one should judge people by their job choice because of its social value level, it is impossible to take away the association of power and status that comes with different occupations.

Author: Savannah Brown