With pursuing a great life comes facing great challenges. Despite some people believing that society only creates a miniscule amount of life challenges, many people support the idea that society is the cause of most problems. Emily Dickinson, born to a successful lawyer and congressman, should have escaped many of life’s greatest hardships; however, she remained secluded for most of her life (“Emily Dickinson”; Peterson). On the other hand, a carpenter’s son, Walt Whitman, faced many hardships throughout his life yet became quite successful, but he still believed society to be harmful (“Whitman, Walt”). Through their poems and lives, these two historical people express a need for a release from societal expectations that can only be found
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In Emily Dickinson’s poem on death, she remarks that “the things that Death will buy” are an escape from circumstances and names but that she does not know “how the gifts of Life” will compare (Dickinson lines 5-11). Since Dickinson ponders the freedom of death with the gift of life, she reveals a desire for more freedom. Generally, people consider death to be a removal of all gifts since life is already so valuable. However, Dickinson desires for a release from the harmful parts of life such as names or expectations. Even though Dickinson seems to be pondering a physical death, a more symbolic attitude is present. The physical death is representing a social death that would lead a person to being ostracized. Similarly, in Whitman’s poem, the clear night represents a death. Whitman addresses that under the “night, sleep, and the stars” the soul is “away from books, away from art” (Whitman lines 2-4). As night is the close of a day, the clear midnight is symbolic of the close of a person’s life. Whitman does not see death as chains but rather as a “free flight” (Whitman line 1). A social death, rather than a physical death, makes someone into an individual who would be free to fly and be away from other people’s works. Despite Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems being …show more content…
For instance, Pat Bagley, a cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, depicted a scene in which a woman reads a newspaper about the death threats that a feminist speaker has received. When the woman remarks “this should shame all utahns,” the man replies that he agrees. However, the man is depicted as only seeing the words “feminist speaker at Utah college” instead of the whole headline of “bloody death threat against feminist speaker at Utah college” (Bagley). This cartoon represents the prejudices that arise in social circumstances. Although the Feminist speaker is not harming anyone, people felt so strongly against her opinions that she received death threats. Therefore, in at least some people’s eyes, the feminist speaker is socially dead. However, the artist further depicts the difference in gender prejudices as well. With the woman seeing the death threats and the man only seeing the exist on the feminist speaker, the cartoon reveals a more empathetic trait in women. While the man is seen as cruel, this characteristic highlights how the man sees the feminist speaker as a problem, making her socially dead to him. Even though modern political cartoons are not of the same time frame as the poems of Whitman and Dickinson, the idea of a need for individuality that is countered with a social death is present throughout both
In Emily Dickinson’s poem on death, she remarks that “the things that Death will buy” are an escape from circumstances and names but that she does not know “how the gifts of Life” will compare (Dickinson lines 5-11). Since Dickinson ponders the freedom of death with the gift of life, she reveals a desire for more freedom. Generally, people consider death to be a removal of all gifts since life is already so valuable. However, Dickinson desires for a release from the harmful parts of life such as names or expectations. Even though Dickinson seems to be pondering a physical death, a more symbolic attitude is present. The physical death is representing a social death that would lead a person to being ostracized. Similarly, in Whitman’s poem, the clear night represents a death. Whitman addresses that under the “night, sleep, and the stars” the soul is “away from books, away from art” (Whitman lines 2-4). As night is the close of a day, the clear midnight is symbolic of the close of a person’s life. Whitman does not see death as chains but rather as a “free flight” (Whitman line 1). A social death, rather than a physical death, makes someone into an individual who would be free to fly and be away from other people’s works. Despite Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems being …show more content…
For instance, Pat Bagley, a cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, depicted a scene in which a woman reads a newspaper about the death threats that a feminist speaker has received. When the woman remarks “this should shame all utahns,” the man replies that he agrees. However, the man is depicted as only seeing the words “feminist speaker at Utah college” instead of the whole headline of “bloody death threat against feminist speaker at Utah college” (Bagley). This cartoon represents the prejudices that arise in social circumstances. Although the Feminist speaker is not harming anyone, people felt so strongly against her opinions that she received death threats. Therefore, in at least some people’s eyes, the feminist speaker is socially dead. However, the artist further depicts the difference in gender prejudices as well. With the woman seeing the death threats and the man only seeing the exist on the feminist speaker, the cartoon reveals a more empathetic trait in women. While the man is seen as cruel, this characteristic highlights how the man sees the feminist speaker as a problem, making her socially dead to him. Even though modern political cartoons are not of the same time frame as the poems of Whitman and Dickinson, the idea of a need for individuality that is countered with a social death is present throughout both