Importance+of+Captain+vs+Pres

For the poem "Oh Captain! My Captain!" I think Whitman was very wise to use the metaphor of a ship captain to President Lincoln. The captain of any ship oversees everything and is like a director of it. A captain would tell his crew where they need to go, how to get there, and what to do in order to be able to get there. Those responsibilities are very similar to those of the president of the US, such as Lincoln. He gave military commands, signed bills, and led the country through a tough time. When either a captain dies or the pres it would be very dramatic/important so I understand why Whitman wrote this poem.1200858581

I also think it was rather clever to compare Lincoln and the Captain in the poem. At first, I must admit, I was rather confused about the comparison, the role of both characters, and they're role in the poem. I realized that the captain and the president both had a very huge amount of responsibilities and tasks that would be carried out to help make a sufficient effort in some sort of way. I think that's where the comparison comes into place. I think there is one difference in both of these characters, and that's the amount of authority. Sure, both of them can make diecisions and carry them out but when it comes to importance, I believe that the president of the U.S has much more. More people look up to a president than a captain. That's the only difference I noticed in the poem, but other than that everything seemed to be right on point.

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