Characters and speaker

The main character in the poem “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman is the speaker. Several others characters appear (the boatmen, the mechanics, the shoemakers, the hatters, etc.). Although they are depicted individually, the characters in the poem can be seen as a collective character which represents the essence of Americanness.…

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The collective character

The collective character in “I Hear America Singing” is, in fact, composed of several people whom the speaker admires: mechanics, carpenters, masons, boatmen, deckhands, shoemakers, hatters, wood-cutters, ploughboys. The speaker also adds the mother, the young wife and the working girl to the list, showing that not only men are capable of hard work. Each of these characters is depicted doing their work while singing. Here is but one example: “The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,” (ll. 7-8)

What strikes abou…