By becoming an individual, one is able to find who he or she truly is. If one was to simply accept the traditions of society, he or she would be restricted from discovering his or her true self and forming independent opinions. In section six of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” Walt Whitman writes, “Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping,/Play’d the part that still looks back on the actor or actress,/The same old role that is what we make it, as great as we like,/Or as small as we like, or both great and small.” He proclaims here that all members of society play a role and that it is in their control to invent that role the way he or she desires. He writes, "Indicate what you are...About my body for me and your body for you." Whitman reveals the importance of identity to one's life, just as Thoreau and Emerson illustrated how to reach this position. The possibilities of a full, honest life are determined by the individual, the nonconformist, who discovers his identity for himself, and does not let society define it for him; this individual is "hip," and epitomizes the American Character that so many others are striving to be.
Once the American Character is an individual with a sense of an identity, he or she can finally fight for a dream; the model character is able to stay hopeful and live in the present during this fight and in turn grow and develop further as a defined individual.
Once the American Character is an individual with a sense of an identity, he or she can finally fight for a dream; the model character is able to stay hopeful and live in the present during this fight and in turn grow and develop further as a defined individual.