ld his own kin. His family has been killed at the hands of his family. There were many pale-faced men as this who were unfortunate victims of civil warfare. This is a terrible tragedy, and Whitman challenges this by asking what happens after these “hard-fought engagements or sieges tremendous? What deepest remains” (The Wound-Dresser, l 12)? The answer, only those who survive to tell the tale remain. Is it really something to celebrate after massacring your fellow countrymen? One might point out the heroics and bravery exhibited in the war, men have been made stronger and is just a growing experience for the country, but “was one side so brave? The other was equally brave” (The Wound-Dresser, l 8). The heroics and bravery are without direction in this war. If you commit a great act of sacrifice, then the results only hurt those whom you share land with, your countrymen, your brethren. Whitman grieves for these people, “for my enemy is dead. A man as divine as myself is dead” (Reconciliation, l 4). There is no purpose to this feud; it has extinguished a man, who is an equal, from this world. By speaking of his enemies as his equals and as divine as himself, he captures their humanity and in effect how inhumane it is to destroy them utterly. Through this portrayal of parity in the humanness of those who endure torture, Whitman thrusts out that the war ultimately wasteful and fruitless. Whitman relates to the horror and suffering endured by the soldiers and civilians in order to show the destructiveness of the Civil War. The US Civil War undid many things, it disunited families and set countryman against each other, this only made the fighting ugly. The conflict ravaged this country and “burst like a ruthless force” (Beat! Beat! Drums! l 2) disrupting all life along the way, in both the north and south. Consequently, “some suffer so much, I recall the experience sweet and sad” (Th...
