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Compare And Contrast Madman And Walt Whitman

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Compare And Contrast Madman And Walt Whitman
Linda Holland-Blackwell
Prof. Anna Cates
LITR221
December 18, 2016

The Social Realism and the Theme of Spirituality and Religion

Social Realism expressed through literature is a “faithful and objective mirror of life”. Recreating life in the real, life as it was. Mark Twain and Walt Whitman each revealed the nature of life’s journey as the ordinary human faced it. Twain and Whitman strove for spiritual knowledge as they journeyed through life, each seeking to understand the aspects of their own spirituality.

“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman and “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain mirrored life through the aspect of spirituality. They both were looking for a way to attain spiritual knowledge and conveyed their messages in different …show more content…
The stranger spoke to the church, in a deep voice: “I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!” (Twain), He explains to them that God has heard their prayers and that they were actually praying two prayers, one for victory and the other for defeat. Through the aspect of patriotism, the reality of war impacted the views of the people, which made them uncertain about the future. Whitman explains to them that the same prayers that they are praying, that their soldiers should “crush the foe” and bringing them victory, is also praying for destruction and death to the opposing side. The congregation was glorifying war, without the full awareness of its …show more content…
These Realist authors reached the aspects of religion and spirituality, as they connect with God, the body & soul, and nature. As there are many Christians in today’s society that are unsure of their spirituality, Whitman felt compassion was lost in the church due to becoming to institutionalize. “Song of Myself” arises out of the belief that we can connect with God through meditation and love and then, we can attain spiritual knowledge and Whitman reached his aspects of religion in the present time. “The War Prayer” contributed to a way to identify religion that would give to the people and the power to speak the truth, while keeping the essence of the history of religion essential for those people that, “venture to disapprove.”
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