Analysis of a Poem “We wear the mask” Essay

It speaks of how African Americans have to hide behind a mask that hides all their sorrow and pain. Dunbar questions why we have to wear the mask, “Why should the world be overwise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask.”(918). He speaks of how all of this should not be happening but in the end everyone is still hiding who they are and what they are really feeling. This poem could account for more than just African Americans. Everyone has worn a mask at one point in their lives but the real question is why? Temptations like in “Wife of His Youth” or to get away like in “’Member Youse a Nigger” have had major effects on people and their lives. Being an African American was a hard life for a long time because slavery and the civil war cause many deaths and many families to be broken

DuBois's story "The Veil" shows a concept that is visible on many levels. The veil can be seen as the literal darker skin of the black people, which is an easy way to identitify any race from any other race. This physical trait allows for discrimination solely because it is the easiest thing to point out. The veil also explores the idea of the White's lack of acceptance of Blacks as Americans, let alone "real" Americans. The veil also covers the notion of the Blacks' inability to see themselves outside of what America (White Americans) had described them as.

The poem also uses end rhyme to add a certain rhythm to the poem as a whole. And the scheme he employs: aabbc, aabd, aabbad. End rhyme, in this poem, serves to effectively pull the reader through to the end of the poem. By pairing it with lines restricted to eight syllables. The narrator creates an almost nursery-rhyme like rhythm. In his third stanza however, his last line, cutting short of eight syllables, stands with an emphatic four syllables. Again, in the last stanza, he utilizes the same technique for the last line of the poem. The narrator’s awareness of rhyme and syllable structure provides the perfect bone structure for his poem’s rhythm.

Alliteration and metaphors are two major elements of this poem. The repetition of consonant sounds and alliteration occurs throughout the poem. All of the lines strongly use the repetition of consonants and alliteration except for lines two and seven. In addition to that, the controlling figure of speech in this poem is a metaphor. It is strongly articulated in the first line, and as the one continues to read, it is amplified and extended throughout the rest of the poem. The metaphor compares mask of Line 1 to the fabricated emotive facades that African-Americans had made use of in order to avert provoking their oppressors.

In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B DuBois pioneers two concepts that describe the Black experience in America— the notions of “the veil” and “double-consciousness.” The meaning and implication of these words not only describe the plight of being Black and American then, it also refers to what it means to still be Black and American today – the remnants of the past live on. DuBois explains the veil concept in reference to three things: the literal darker skin of Blacks, which is the physical demarcation of the difference from whiteness, white people’s lack of clarity in order to see Blacks as “true” Americans, and lastly Blacks’ lack of clarity to see themselves outside of what white America prescribes for them. The idea of double consciousness refers to the two-ness, caused by our nations flawed and polarized system, felt by many Blacks. I argue that although DuBois was the first to coin these two terms, it is clear through analyzing Uncle Tom’s Cabin and 12 Years a Slave that these two significant concepts gave a name to what African-Americans had been feeling for years but previously could not define.

As DuBois looks through the veil, he can see a world that he loves, but cannot belong to because it belongs to the whites. The veil perpetuates the concept of alienation from the world to which he knows he will never belong. From the other side, whites look through at blacks, and construct their own opinions of the opposing race, and in doing so, create an opinion that is accepted by blacks themselves. The distortion created by the veil muddles the world of the whites and also the self-knowledge within each individual on the black side of the veil.

In Dubois (1903) “The Soul of Black Folk” the ideas of double consciousness and the veil affect blacks. A veil is a piece of clothing that conceals a face. The veil is figurative and is presented in the film through Buggin outs questions Sal of the wall of fame. Even though it’s Sal’s pizzeria Buggin out raises a great point. Buggin out tells Sal that the clientele he attracts are black folk. While black folk are the majority of the customers they should have a say on the wall of fame. The veil is to conceal the importance of blacks. To Sal and his sons blacks are not important enough to put on the wall. The community is diverse but Sal’s son Pino view blacks with hate and resentment. Pino views blacks as apes and animals not people. Another example of the veil can be the conversation Mookie has with Pino. Mookie criticizes Pino for constantly critiquing blacks and questions his favorite entertainers. Pino’s

Rather than gifting African-Americans with the freedom they dreamt about and fought hard for, the Emancipation led to an achievement of an ambiguous status in society, which created a larger problem of race that W.E.B Du Bois discusses in The Souls of Black Folk. In order to introduce this problem, Du Bois employs the use of a metaphor that compares the post-war life of Blacks in America to being stuck within a Veil as most held distorted images of self and self-worth. His use of the Veil metaphor emphasizes the severity of the “Negro Problem” in an attempt to convince white Americans that, in order for real progress of American industry and culture to take place, the problem must be

During this time, Harlem drew black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. People had come from the South, fleeing oppression in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents. African Americans did manage to succeed in the arts but because of the color of their skin, they faced some problems. The poem “Sonnet To A Negro in Harlem” by Helene Johnson provided this “Why urge ahead your supercilious feet? Scorn will efface each footprint you make” which means that every time a black person succeeds, it will be erases by contempt that whites have towards them. As African Americans become more affluent, they realize that not everyone will accept their triumph so they end up putting up a front or wearing a mask that hides who they truly are. The poem “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar says “Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us while, We wear the mask” which means why does the world pretend to understand the struggles that blacks have gone through. To avoid that situation, blacks should wear a mask to conceal their difficulties so that everybody else doesn’t need to claim they apprehend their endeavors. These poems show that the roles of African Americans changes from individuals who achieved success to ones who have to hide their

“And thus in the Land of the Color-line I saw, as it fell across my baby, the shadow of the Veil. Within the Veil was he born, said I; and there within shall he live, - a Negro and a Negro’s son. Holding in that little head- ah, bitterly! - the unbowed pride of a hunted race, clinging with that tiny dimpled hand – ah, wearily!- to a hope not hopeless but unhopeful, and seeing with those bright wondering eyes that peer into my soul a land whose freedom is to us a mockery and whose liberty a lie.”

It is no secret that the life and culture of the African American population was extremely oppressed before the Civil Rights movement that ultimately led to their equality and freedom. Due to an autobiographical collection of essays by W.E.B. Du Bois called Souls of Black Folks readers are able to get an unfiltered glimpse into what it was like for African Americans living through these trying times. It is my belief, after reading Du Bois’s piece, that he sought to create a sense of emotional unity with his fellow African Americans and to create sympathy in non-African American supporters through his reoccurring concept of double consciousness and “veil” metaphors. This unity would be necessary for their race, and other supporters, to come

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!”

It is therefore, not only a sociological analsis on the plight of the negro in the 20th century, but also a lesson in history. He suggest that it is difficult understanding the concept of the veil without understanding the history behind it.

One of the first things you notice is the usage of an almost perfect rhyme scheme. Dunbar uses this frequently through the entire poem, using the AABB method. I personally think that Dunbar uses this to fit in well with other poems, so peers understand that it is, in fact, a poem.

From the video of W.E.B. Bois to the best, that I could heard and understand. He talks about a metaphor of the veil. The veil is a visual manifestation of the color line, a problem Dubois worked his whole life to remedy. He argues that African Americans view the world and its potential economic, political, and social opportunities different from that of white. He call it a “blessing and a curse. It is true that we in his world are looked upon as a problem. The burden was not just poverty but also the burden that the white world put on the Negro to view himself in their eyes as a problem, this is called the "double-consciousness.”