"Who troubles himself about his ornaments or fluency is lost"
The Reservoir give too much thought to money and they all die grotesque deaths
‘The Americans... are glad to pass on anything to anyone’.The selflessness of Americans, discussed by Walt in Leaves of Grass, has either dissolved or has never existed. He saw an innate good-will tendency in the American species and failed to acknowledge otherwise. He managed to look past aristocracy, slavers, and other selfish cogs of society to subscribe to the idea that, in general, we are selfless and kind to all. It seems as though, in this dazzling century, that Americans are tippy-toeing on the apex of selfishness and personal profit than ever before in our four centuries of western existence and a million years of existence itself because that is what a modern American society demands of the individual.
Each American is like its own craft, obsessed with its own model and personal preservation. We weave through tree branches in an exhausting, lifelong effort to surpass our adversaries, lovers, family, friends, and co-workers. We have all pressed our names in a system of hierarchy and we are all delighted by it. In this capitalist American society, it is impossible to devote yourself otherwise and to do so would be a permanent seal to nakedness and vulnerability. To be simple and moderate is to be untouchable. The height of American picturesque happiness is unattainable because the American citizens are always reaching for something higher and more unattainable.
The contrast between the vehicle that is modern America and the Wagon-life of Walt may not be unfathomable but are drastic. There were still bearded men living Gnostically, axe-handedly, self-sustainingly whistling folk to the trees in the woods and planting their cabins in its hearth.
Each American is like its own craft, obsessed with its own model and personal preservation. We weave through tree branches in an exhausting, lifelong effort to surpass our adversaries, lovers, family, friends, and co-workers. We have all pressed our names in a system of hierarchy and we are all delighted by it. In this capitalist American society, it is impossible to devote yourself otherwise and to do so would be a permanent seal to nakedness and vulnerability. To be simple and moderate is to be untouchable. The height of American picturesque happiness is unattainable because the American citizens are always reaching for something higher and more unattainable.
The contrast between the vehicle that is modern America and the Wagon-life of Walt may not be unfathomable but are drastic. There were still bearded men living Gnostically, axe-handedly, self-sustainingly whistling folk to the trees in the woods and planting their cabins in its hearth.
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