# The Animal Self explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

The narrator contemplates living among animals, admiring their placid self-containment and freedom from human anxieties about sin, duty, and possessions. He sees them as bearers of tokens of his own self, suggesting a past connection. The chapter culminates in a vivid encounter with a stallion, which the narrator ultimately surpasses with his own spiritual velocity.

## Themes in this chapter

### Celebration of Nature and the Universe

Animals are portrayed as ideal beings, free from human neuroses, embodying a natural harmony.

### Individuality and Self

The narrator finds tokens of his own self in animals, exploring the continuity of identity across time.

### Comradeship and Love

The narrator picks out one animal to love and go with 'on brotherly terms,' emphasizing affectionate connection.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker who longs to live with animals and reflects on their self-contained nature.

### Walt Whitman

Implied as the poet who identifies with the animals and the stallion.

## Key lines

> I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d

I could choose to live among animals because they are calm and self-sufficient.

_Opens the chapter with a desire to escape human discontent._

> They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession.

Animals show me clear signs of my own being, which they possess openly.

_Suggests a mystical connection between the self and the animal world._

> I but use you a minute, then I resign you, stallion, Why do I need your paces when I myself out-gallop them?

I only need you briefly, stallion; I surpass your speed with my own motion.

_The narrator asserts his own spiritual transcendence over physical prowess._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/32
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters