This is super random, but this thought came to me as I was re-reading “Song of the Open Road”. It honestly reminds me a lot of Forrest Gump (W movie, if you haven’t seen it, you should). Bear with me on this one. While the story is about a lot more than just running, it’s kind of Forrest’s primary thing he’s known for. He leaves everything and spends 3 years running across the country for no reason, with no destination in mind. He’s just running. Remind you of anything? Perhaps Whitman’s own journey on the open road to find himself? Whitman invites everyone to join him on his travels, encouraging them to drop everything, and take to the road much like Forrest, though Forrest does so unintentionally. This scene in particular makes me think of Whitman leading the people on his “long brown path”.

Obviously, there are many differences between the two men, considering Forrest Gump has an IQ of 75 and Whitman is, well, Whitman, but I thought it was a fun comparison and wanted to share. If you’re interested to see the part of the movie I’m referencing, I’ll put a youtube link below!

Forrest Gump runs across America for 1170 days and 16 hours