Disguise and suffering are themes that are present in Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask.” We as people in life tend to hide the truth behind a fake smile and kind gestures, knowing our own truth and feelings towards situations. We have a propensity to do things like this because it is something we just to do in order to get through hardships, and on with things in our lives. Paul Laurence Dunbar captures your attention in his poem “We wear the Mask.” As we interpret Dunbar’s use of metaphor, characterization and imagery, we can learn the truth and his true meaning on what he meant when he refers to the mask and what secrets we hide behind it.
Dunbar’s use of metaphors refers to the mask being shown that he has to hide the truth on how he really feels
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As Dunbar states “[w]e smile, but, O great Christ, our cries” (Dunbar line 10). He uses “We” referring to everyone that puts set “Mask” on, smiling and pretending like everything is fine, but it is not. As “Christ” sees the truth behind every lie and seeing everyone for who they really are even underneath “The mask” they wear. Dunbar uses imagery again informing us “[t]o thee from tortured souls arise” (Dunbar line 11). The “souls” are not visual, but how the author writes it, we can feel his pain. We can feel the pain of everyone that puts on “The Mask”, pretending to have fake joy, and having to be unreal the whole time being “tortured” from the inside, knowing that they are really hurting by the way they have to act when they’re wearing “The Mask”. The author ends the poem with one last piece of imagery confirming, “We wear the mask!” (Dunbar line 15).
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We wear the mask” demonstrates the truth and lies that we as people go through and face every day. “The Mask” resembles the fact that we have certain feelings about every situation but we hide it behind a fake smile and fake expressions. Dunbar’s use of imagery, characterization, and mainly metaphors really are what makes up the poem and his style of writing; all of these factors are what makes the reading so deep and
The theme of the past is a key aspect of 'Beloved' and the 'Selected Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar' as the narrators, in both texts, have a nostalgic perception of the many years that have passed, whether the memories are pleasant or grim they are reflected upon with – at the very least – a hint of admiration alongside a deep longing to return to the past. Similarly, in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman', the tragic hero, Willy Loman, is also constantly drifting back into the past to when his sons were ambitious young men and he was a successful businessman. 'Beloved' was set after the American Civil War in 1873, where many black people were heavily mistreated and suffered long and gruelling years of slavery. The novel was written in 1987, but the author was able to capture the hopes and dreams of most Black Americans whilst simultaneously criticising the treatment they received at the hands of a racist society. Paul Laurence Dunbar also uses the same context in his work, again depicting the longing to be freed from a past life of slavery, which is particularly conveyed in his 'Invitation to Love'. Contrastingly, in 'Death of a Salesman' Willy also yearns for the people of his past, such as Ben Loman, his older brother, who was his role model of success for himself and his sons. In 1945, World War 2 had ended and left American citizens financially very well off and by 1949, agriculture became a difficult job as the Government was more interested in co-operate farms, thus providing a new American Dream; working in high-end businesses to gain a large salary and a respected status. This was Willy Loman's dream, however Arthur Miller used his protagonist to portray how competitive and cut-throat the business world was and how emplo...
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.
The inconsistent American view of integrity exposed in “We Wear the Mask” Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Theme for English B” Langston Hughes acknowledges the struggle between how society views African Americans and how the community views itself. Circumstances were difficult in America amongst the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century. An immense amount of changes were happening, and numerous people had a troublesome time dealing with them. African Americans specifically got in a culture that showed up to more superior to anything it had been before and surrounded by the Civil War. The truth was, things simply weren 't so divine. African-American of this time period are prime cases
The poem, "We Wear the Mask”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar is about separating Blacks people from the masks they wear. When Blacks wear their masks they are not simply hiding from their oppressor they are also hiding from themselves. This type of deceit cannot be repaid with material things. This debt can only be repaid through repentance and self-realization. The second stanza of “We Wear the Mask” tells Blacks whites should not know about their troubles. It would only give them leverage over Blacks. Black peoples’ pain and insecurities ought to be kept amongst themselves. There is no need for anyone outside the black race to know what lies beneath their masks. The third stanza turns to a divine being. Blacks look to god because he made them and is the only one that can understand them. They must wear their mask proudly. The world should stay in the dark about who they are. This poem is about Blacks knowing their place and staying in it. This is the only way they could be safe.
Masks are a way an individual expresses themselves with various types of people. We are given different occasions and have to act a certain way to do so. Gergen states that the cause of having a mask is “When an individual seeks approval from this diverse range of personalities,he or she adopts a wholly different mask or public identities.” (197) Each person has a different personality when they are with certain people, based on actions and reactions. For instance, when having a guest visiting for the first time, we tend to look our best and choose the best way to make them feel welcome. We tend to hide things that don 't seem “appropriate” and take out things that seem new. We probably don’t notice, but we create a mask based on appearance since we are hiding the reality based on their first
For fear of judgment based on appearance, any human being might cover up his sorrows as to not display any signs of weakness. Throughout Dunbar’s poem, the characters reflect upon their perception of the world and ironically accept the world the way it is. Revealing the true nature of the world, Dunbar states, “Why should the world be over-wise, /In counting all our tears and sighs?” (Dunbar 6). The poet insists that everyone need to be more comfortable and open to new ideas while embracing each others uniquenesses defined by strengths and weaknesses. The world was never “over-wise” because people dismiss the idea of helping others in fear of ruining their own reputation. Because of the utter nature of society, citizens have no other option but to wear a mask of apathy and cover up their insecurities. The narrator feels the need to conceal their feelings by “wear[ing] the mask that grins and lies” (Dunbar 1). They use “lies” to cover themselves, but at the same time question why no one seems to care. This contradiction complicates the battle between the world and the individual. Nevertheless, by changing their identities, they spread the idea of disguise, making everyone blind to the truth of human
The first way Dunbar achieves this meaning is by his use of language. When Dunbar is talking about standard English poetry he speaks "of life, serenely sweet/ With, now and then, a deeper tone" (Dunbar 1-2). As he's talking about his standard English poems, he uses sentimental language invoking images of peacefulness and bliss. The second half of the line alludes to the fact that Dunbar feels with standard English he is more free with expression than Dialect which he feels can only represent emotions of happiness or sadness. In the second stanz...
In the story "Battle Royal" the narrator's grandfather tells the family to undermind the whites with "yeses" and "grins", he also instructs them to "agree'em to death and destruction". The grandfather felt that in order to keep the family safe and also hold on to the oppression that scars them everyday, they should put on a mask. This will keep the white man pleased and the blacks could keep there self respect because as soon as the opportunity for social equality comes they'll go for it. This didn't seem like a bad idea but it was hard for the narrator to comprehend.
The mask is a form of deception or illusion. Sometimes, it can be worn as both. It hides the true emotions of slaves, keeping the slave master from knowing what is going on in their minds. The mask also allows the slave to have an identity without the master’s detection. The mask gives the illusion that the slave is exactly how the masters believe, ignorant, incapable of true emotion, and unable to think for themselves.
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
Paul Dunbar was born into a tough life from the beginning. His parents were slaves and shortly they separated after his birth but this helped Dunbar later on in his career because Dunbar would draw stories from their plantation life (Paul Poetry Foundation). He had to grow up without two parents and had to tough it out on his own. Dunbar also was financially unable to attend college and eventually moved to Chicago and befriended Frederick Douglass (Paul Poetry Foundation np). These events affected his life by not allowing Dunbar to attend college and sharpen his writing skills and Douglass helped him gain more reputation. Dunbar challenged the literary world by trying to make them read within the words and not just read the words. He fought slavery through his poetry and always referred to people as “we” and never “I”. This is important because Dunbar wanted to stand up for the whole black community and it is important he inspired so many people to read his poems. Dunbar impacted modernism by writing some o...
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 be otherwise” (13). The unreal character of the mask has played a significant role in the lives of African Americans, who pretend to put on a smile when they feel sad internally. This occasion, 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).
In the time of the Great Depression, many people were in moments of suffering and hardships. However, African American were facing moments of prejudice and segregation, that was sonly based on the color of their skin. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper lee and the poem “We wear the mask” by Paul Lawrence Dumber, gave incite to those moments and how African Americans changed themselves to fit in to the white people society.
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson are two poems that depict how many people hide their feelings from others. The two poems are similar in theme, but are told from different points of view and differ in plot.
When attending a masquerade, a person is expected to wear a mask. In fact, it’s looked down upon if a mask isn’t worn. But, what if for some people that mask never came off? In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, each character has constructed their own metaphorical mask that they set firmly in place every morning when exiting their bed. Each character: Nora, Torvald, Kristine and Krogstad all have masks that they put in place when speaking to each other. Throughout most of the play, it is clear that all of the aforementioned characters have multiple facades that they use when speaking to one another; often switching quickly as they begin speaking to someone else. Henrik Ibsen’s use of the masquerade serves as an extended metaphor to show the masks that the characters use in their everyday lives.