Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "We Wear The Mask" is about his views on
racism and the struggle for equality for the African-Americans. What is so
beautifully unique is how he wrote it in an artful, refined dissimulation of his true
self. He is deliberately misleading and often indirect as if to hide beneath his
words, coming across as oblique and delicate at the same time. This further
stresses the idea of the mask, being concealing and elusive, in many ways.
This particular piece of work is unequaled, not only to the literary world,
but the author himself. Paul Laurence Dunbar's other poems are written in a
specific dialect, brought on by his African-American descent. One example comes from
an earlier poem "When Dey 'Listed Colored Soldiers." The title alone is a good example
but the rest of the poem continues "DEY was talkin' in de cabin, dey was talkin' in de hall;
But I listened kin' o' keerless, not a-t'inkin' 'bout it all" and so on in this matter. In contrast
to this vernacular, "We Wear The Mask" was written in formal English which adds to the
over-all anonymous aspect of the poem. He wrote with his experiences as an
African- American but presented them in a way that any would understand. It's
purpose was to masquerade the race of the poet so that the poem would be
relatable to any reader, allowing it to make an impact and enable a shared
compassion between humans without definity.
The poem actually begins with the congregate voice of African-Americans
as we. Because he choose not to write as I the connection to the author is
removed and allows the audience to further assume the personae of the author
as anonymous. It continues on through t...
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... let the world dream otherwise", unaware of the intensity of the
battle and continuing to think that everything can be fixed. Paul Laurence Dunbar
obvisiously feels that people are blind to the injustice of racial discrimination.
The way he discusses the world in a cloudy, dream-like divide further stresses
the idea of the mask, concealing the outside from the in.
Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear The Mask" is loaded with duplicity in
that every statement, while having it's own meaning, can be interpreted to
support his theme of masquerade. This theme or main idea is very important
to the purpose of this poem because it illustrates his opinions of how the world
reacts and copes with racism. He did this by beautifully writing each word to be
weighted with sensual meaning and to have two faces, such that of his
mysterious mask.
Many writers begin writing and showing literary talent when they are young. Paul Laurence Dunbar, born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, was already editor of a newspaper and had had two of his poems published in the local newspaper before he’d graduated from high school. His classmate, Orville Wright, printed The Tattler which Dunbar edited and published for the local African American community. After graduating from high school, he was forced to get a job as an elevator operator which allowed him spare time for writing. He finally gained recognition outside of Dayton when, in 1892, he was invited to address the Western Association of Writers and met James Newton Matthews who praised his work in a letter to an Illinois newspaper. In 1892, he decided to publish his first book of poems entitled Oak and Ivy and four years later his second book of poems Majors and Minors was published. People began to see him as a symbol for his race, and he was thought of artistically as “a happy-go-lucky, singing, shuffling, banjo-picking being… in a log cabin amid fields of cotton” (Dunbar, AAW 2). Dunbar’s poems, written alternately in literary and dialect English, are about love, death, music, laughter, human frailty, and though Dunbar tried to mute themes of social protest, social commentary on racial themes is present in his poetry.
He begins with a declaration that “It is a sin to write this. [because] men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so” (Rand, 17). Equality 7-2521 writes that he was born with a curse: He is different than the other men in his society. He lamented that “the learning was too easy”.
By questioning why the world is simply watching at “our” pain, Dunbar places the subjects of the mask in a group vs. world scenario. When the slaves’ situations are considered, the world was indeed quiet at the expense of the slaves’ lives. Dunbar knows this to be true and asks the question rhetorically to suggest that those who stay quiet contribute to the pain. Dunbar goes even further to say that “Nay, let them only see us, while / we wear the mask.” (8-9), suggesting that the world sees only the false reality. His interesting word choice of “let them” depicts the subjects as the ones willingly showing a false reality. Ironically, the world does nothing to stop the problem and the disguised subjects are not showing the harsh reality. The problem was that the slaves lied as a mechanism for survival but by doing so, they were unable to portray their cruel reality accurately. This causes both parties to be at fault according to
The poem We Wear the Mask by Paul Dunbar is filled with many powerful statements. Dunbar talks writes about how there is so much hurt behind people’s smiles and so much pain in their past. He also asks why society should be “over-wise;” it tries to act like it knows what is best for people. The play An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has a lot in common with this poem. Nataki Garrett who was the director of this play at the Mixed Blood Theatre saw how well this poem went with the play, and she added it into the program. Both the poem and the play talk about how it was like for African Americans to live in a white dominated society.
chose not to write in this way because he wanted to give a view of...
The title itself directs readers towards a sense of assimilation by wearing a mask. Wearing a mask indicates hiding an original identity in order to please the mainstream one. This is exactly the case in “We Wear the Mask”. In this case, blacks had to hide their humiliation and suffering from their white counterparts by wearing a mask that lies. When Dunbar wrote, “With torn and bleeding hearts we smile” (646), it is evident that African Americans were forced to hide their pain by showing a fake smile. They suffered emotionally on the inside but could not express it. In addition to showing a fake smile, African Americans did not care about their heritage. The third stanza reads, “But let the world dream otherwise, / We wear the mask!” (14-15). The lines do not celebrate cultural heritage because the slaves had to show pleasure while they are being tortured. Letting the world dream otherwise shows the slaves’ carelessness when it comes to expressing their identity.They are concealing their true self by hiding their pain. Hiding their pain also means hiding their cultural
A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or her) with inspiring teachings, frightening thoughts, and playful games with the language. These people are true writers…
is a poem about the nature of creation, much as is his earlier poem from
From an early age, Frederick Douglass refused to accept the life of confinement into which he was born. The way he learned to write is a fine example of his exceptional resourcefulness and persistence to rise above. In The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Douglass's depiction of his self-education can be found on page 94...
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is a lyric poem in which the point of attraction, the mask, represents the oppression and sadness held by African Americans in the late 19th century, around the time of slavery. As the poem progresses, Dunbar reveals the façade of the mask, portrayed in the third stanza where the speaker states, “But let the dream otherwise” (13). The unreal character of the mask has played a significant role over the life of African Americans, whom pretend to put on a smile when they feel sad internally. This ocassion, according to Dunbar, is the “debt we pay to human guile," meaning that their sadness is related to them deceiving others. Unlike his other poems, with its prevalent use of black dialect, Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” acts as “an apologia (or justification) for the minstrel quality of some of his dialect poems” (Desmet, Hart and Miller 466). Through the utilization of iambic tetrameter, end rhyme, sound devices and figurative language, the speaker expresses the hidden pain and suffering African Americans possessed, as they were “tortured souls” behind their masks (10).
He recognized that the reader could perceive his story to be a rant regarding racial identity, because of the natural tendency to be self-involved. He made a point beyond this assumption and stated that simply being a person, despite his race, he was a disembodied voice. He was an individual with a story that challenged public knowledge on history. More importantly, he shamelessly revealed stories of “hope, desire, fear and hate” that defined his way of being,
These constant feelings of discontent, and annoyance were seen frequently by African Americans who suffered from injustice acts from the white majority during these times. Many of the poems written during this time showed some sort of historical reference of maltreatment, or inequality. For years, African Americans were not allowed to have a voice, and if they did they wen’t unheard. However, when poems got published, the deep emotion, and rage that African Americans lived through for many years was released to the public, and shocked a majority of people when they quickly became influential to society.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, entitled " The Poet", takes the reader into a new awareness concerning an artistic writer. This essay created new insight about a writer's handicraft. Emerson shows us how a poet uses his gift to connect a non-artist of words to feelings that he is unable to express. A poet uses his God-given ingredient, the soul, to describe the things that engulf our lives. We, that do not have this talent, are given this connection by the writings in "The Poet".
In the beginning stanza, it’s all about concealment and deception that is hiding from a treacherous possible outcome. The author writes, “We wear the mask that grins and lies / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes / This debt we pay to human guile” (Dunbar 1-3). In the first line, it implies a group that is hiding its true feelings from others by saying we. It is the face of deceitful refusal to accept the wrongs as rights to the oppressors around them. The second line it explain...
... is poetry for “everyone”, even though authors want to make meaning and tell a story; our interpretation of a poem is what counts. The true beauty of a poem is the fact that it is subject to various interpretations (Videnov, pp. 126-30).