# Whitman — The National Being character guide

> Whitman in The National Being by George William Russell.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** himself

**First appearance:** 0004-iii

## Who they are

The poet Walt Whitman, invoked as a symbol of democratic and national spirit.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_psychological_

The narrator engages in a deep, introspective dialogue with Whitman, treating him as a spiritual and intellectual guide or alter ego.

### [Patrick Maloney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/characters/patrick_maloney)

_social_

Patrick Maloney and Whitman share a single, likely incidental interaction, suggesting a brief or peripheral connection.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/chapters/ii)

Whitman is cited as the most democratic poet of the modern world who lamented the absence of great heroic figures in literature.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned as a poet who elevates the common person, chanting of their inheritance of the earth.

### [Chapter V: The Rural Community and the Cooperative Ideal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/chapters/v)

Mentioned indirectly through the phrase 'the federation of the world,' which echoes Whitman's democratic and universalist vision.

### [The Emancipation of Labor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/chapters/x)

Quoted in reflection on the French Revolution and the inevitability of retribution when people suffer intolerably.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/characters/whitman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_national_being_se/characters