"Song of Myself #10"

<-- Walt  Whitman

I think that besides Poe, and Dickinson, and Thoreau, Whitman has some deep thoughts about non-conformity. In his poem “Song of Myself” (specifically, the 10^th section), he describes taking in a runaway slave and helping him on his way. In this instance, both persons are not conforming: the slave by running away, and Whitman by helping him rather than turning him in. Whitman

“…led him in and assured him, /And brought water and fill’d a tub for his sweated body and bruis’d feet, /And gave him a room that enter’d from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes…”

This is close to the opposite of how society would feel towards a runaway slave. So, Whitman is being a nonconformist here. By non-conforming, he obtained something better for himself, which is still possible today. There is obviously a relevance for Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” in life today.

"To Build a Fire"

Even though many of the texts we have analyzed have said that non-conformity is good, “To Build a Fire” carries a cautionary message about the bad things that can happen when one doesn’t conform to society. In it, the main character decides to trek through Yukon to a camp in -70 degree weather while alone. He accidentally gets his feet wet and eventually freezes to death. I think this means that even if non-conformity is good, if we do everything all by ourselves, then we won’t get anywhere. You need people to back you up, or else you’re setting yourself up for disaster.