The lines 189-198 of “Song of Myself” describe how a runaway slave finds shelter in Whitman’s house and is welcomed by his hospitality.
Firstly, Whitman shows various signs of a helpful person, as he lets the slave, who had stopped outside his house in search of an asylum, into his house. Moreover, he runs him a bath and lets him sit with him at the table and even has his gun close, to protect the slave from slave hunters. Whitman treats the man as equal because he sympathises with the slave and further into the poem also identifies with one: “I am the hounded slave […]” (47), which indicates his openness to people of different races.
Furthermore, Whitman lived in the north of the U.S., assured by the use of “he staid with me […] before he
Firstly, Whitman shows various signs of a helpful person, as he lets the slave, who had stopped outside his house in search of an asylum, into his house. Moreover, he runs him a bath and lets him sit with him at the table and even has his gun close, to protect the slave from slave hunters. Whitman treats the man as equal because he sympathises with the slave and further into the poem also identifies with one: “I am the hounded slave […]” (47), which indicates his openness to people of different races.
Furthermore, Whitman lived in the north of the U.S., assured by the use of “he staid with me […] before he