An Explanation Of Paul Laurence Dunbar's We Wear The Mask

By it being a tool to hide, it lies. The words “those “cheeks” and “eyes” are the real instruments of our identity and if they’re hidden” (We Mask). When they are hidden nothing honest comes from it. To correlate this poem to the song “Just Stand Up” that us as a society must not hide whom we are, but stand up and be strong with any obstacle that has been thrown our way.

In the Novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee uses the characters Mrs. Dubose, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and Tom Robinson to show the many ways that deceptive appearance can be seen. If it is the individual who puts up a mask, one’s personality, or past stereotypes that cause deceptive appearances: Lee tries to show you throughout the novel how perceiving someone before they get the chance to show you who they are, often turns out they are not as bad or they are not like how they once seemed to be. Today in our society many people are afraid to show who they are in fear of judgment of others so they put up a front so that they will be judge that part of them instead of that part of their true selves. Society’s eyes is the cause of the need to be a false image of yourself and the reason why people analyze someone based on stereotypes before getting to know their

In the poem, “We Wear the Mask’, the narrator, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, expresses the pain African American experienced during the slave trade and how the slaves learned to suppress their emotions. The poem shows a contrast between African American’s social faces and their “bleeding hearts”. The tone of the poem is not a corrective tone, but rather an explanatory one. In considering the time period, it would make sense that the narrator would be careful about insulting the white community. In the first stanza the tone starts as explanatory in just speaking of the masquerade and state of oppression. Then the last two stanzas are very matter of fact. When the narrator sarcastically states, “Why should the world be otherwise”. Showing

“We all have a social mask, right? We put it on, we go out, put our best foot forward, our best image. But behind that social mask is a personal truth, what we really, really believe about who we are and what we're capable of.” Sometimes people can use mask’s to change how they look, feel, and what they think. Everyone has their own mask that they use so that other people do not judge them on who they are. People also mask themselves if they do not think they meet any standards that other people have. It is more beneficial than harmful to mask yourself.

This proves Gergen’s thesis, “I doubt that people normally develop a coherent sense of identity, and believe that to the extent that they do, they may experience serve emotional distress” (172). By having several masks or selves, is how we are able to adapt to changing society. With these multiple masks we are able to achieve acceptance and know who we are as individuals. Throughout life we must adopt masks when facing different circumstances; it is through these masks that we see how we change as individuals. If we spend our lives trying to stick to one mask, we can find ourselves to feel lost, depressed, or invisible. Change is good; however we must still stay true to ourselves when using masks. They are a part of us as individuals but they are not us.

Throughout the poem, the tone is very dreadful. The author creates this tone with the words he uses throughout the poem. One example is in the first stanza it says bleeding hearts. The author also uses the words tears and sighs in the second stanza. This adds to the dreadful tone that the author portrays.

Dunbar opens his poem with “We wear the mask,” to draw in any type of

All times, the disappearance of cherishable beings brings people unbearable agony. Eventually, they cry, and then suffer more heartache, yet the attitudes when confronting a farewell vary dynamically within individuals. In Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”, both speakers experience a painful loss. However, while Thomas strongly opposes the undeniable fact of his father’s death process, Bishop reluctantly accepts the departure of her beloved. The two speakers react differently to recover from the ineluctable sadness, to regain inner peace. In the end, the poems’ comparison concludes losing valued relations is distressingly unavoidable, and that there is no ideal way to cope with losses. Therefore,

But given this seemingly logical incentive, Dunbar's “We Wear The Mask’” is not simply a portrait of a survival strategy in turbulent times. From the first inclusive ‘We’ that repeats throughout the poem, Dunbar sets off in a confident iambic stride that echoes the tone of empowerment that emerges throughout the poem. While this meter conjures the onward trudge through a difficult life - as overtly pointed to in “but oh the clay is vile beneath our feet, and long the mile” -  it also perfectly supports a march towards a triumphant exclamatory ending “we wear the mask!”

the mask joins the community together in the experience of its beauty and allure”

Essentially, the person of this poem is asking why should the world get the right to know why they are truly upset, and potentially use it against them; instead, have pride, hold your head up high, and put on your “mask.” In doing so, the literary term paradox comes into play. This poem is about the true feelings of blacks being hidden behind masks, when also the poem itself hides the fundamental issue of racism from even being mentioned – that alone is a paradox because the poem has a mask on as well. This poem can also be seen as a paradox because this so called “we” is supposed to be wearing a mask when in fact they are expressing their feelings and becoming vulnerable, aka – no more mask.

In his poem “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Dunbar explains how those who have fallen victim to racial discrimination have put up a guard around their emotions to fit in with those around them. Dunbar explains in his poem that people wear a “mask” to hide the hurt that they feel, and what lies beneath the mask is the pain and suffering felt by an enormous amount of people. The speaker uses the logical fallacy of pulling at the heartstrings of the readers, allowing for the readers to understand the emotions, fear and traumatizing pain that the mask is hiding. Through multiple figures of speech, Dunbar is able to outline the consequences of leaving raw emotions in the shadows. By using symbolism, Dunbar encourages the reader to view the “mask” more in depth and discover what is underneath it. Personification is used to allow the reader to relate to the poem more easily, thus grasping a better understanding of the mask. Dunbar then goes on to use hyperboles to place emphasis on the importance of uncovering the true pain that results from discrimination. By using these techniques, Dunbar draws attention to an important social issue; the constant need to conceal emotions in order to be accepted by society.

Poetry has always been a mirror to see unseen emotions and to hear unheard thoughts. Magical words used in an artistic way allows the reader to feel what the poet is feeling, to listen what the poet is listening and to share what the poet is going through. The two poems “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson, and “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar are two classical works of poetry. While Dunbar shares agonizing experience of an entire community, Dickinson shares her thoughts about individual characteristic and personality; in fact, she cleverly wins the case of an introvert. Both these poems are independent of each other in terms of thought as well as from literary perspective.

Many times, the atrocities of lifestyles overwhelm us. We are deeply harm, and the injury appears beyond restore. Moving on with lifestyles looks like a herculean mission. However we don't want to be perceived susceptible by way of the people around us. So, we wear masks; masks with glad faces and ideal lies. Too almost always, we disregard to take off these masks for days, weeks, months and even years. Although we're sad, we feel secure and trustworthy at the back of the smiling face we placed on in front of the arena, despite the fact that we're hollow inside.

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes”. My “mask” was me being