Whitman: Half B'hoy Half Man

The term Bowery B'hoy originated from a popular gang in mid 19th Century New York called the Bowery Boys. They presided in the area of Bowery, New York; promoting ideas of nativism, hanging out in saloons and brothels, and generally just kicking some ass. As popular writers began to explore the gang within their literature or plays, a B'hoy became a certain character archetype in the modern culture of the times. A 'rough and tough' person of the lower, working class that looked something like this:

When considering his voice for 'Song of Myself,' it is said that Whitman considered the B'hoy in contrast to the business, broadway type of man. I read a segment of Donald D. Kummings' book, A Companion to Walt Whitman, and he talks about the B'hoy representing "the great middle class of free life under a republic of which they are the types and representatives," despising the upper class of  business owners etc. As we talked about in class, Whitman's poem juxtaposes the modern culture of America, idealizing the business man and strong work ethic, with a narrator that does the opposite: loafs in the nude, connects with nature and surroundings etc. It doesn't seem as if the B'hoy would get naked and run through the forest, but these two personas represent an alternative to the average, a clash to the main stream ideals of the upper class. 

To stem from that idea, I read in a wikipedia article addressing the "B'hoy and G'hal" that as the archetype became popular to use in modern day plays, there was a transfer of upper class citizens to lower, working class roughs in the theater. 

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the boxes no longer shone with the elite of the city; the character of the audience was entirely changed, and Mose, instead of appearing on the stage, was in the pit, the boxes, and the gallery. It was all Mose, and the respectability of the house mosed too. -A complaint by William Northall at the Olympic Theater

This reminded me of Whitman for he was all about the modern pop culture as opposed to the elitist interests of the times. He must have been pleased if/and when he found out this information. In fact, he could have even been sitting along side those 'Mose's' in the theater!