Masks In The Stranger

Simmel defines the stranger as one that is both close and far; that is physically close, but socially distant. He disassociates his concept from the understanding of the stranger as one who comes and goes. Rather, the stranger he speaks of in this case is one who comes and stays, but has not been socialized under the same conditions as mainstream society. Despite this, the stranger is not a person who is withdrawn from society and is unaware of social norms. Rather, someone is inorganically appended to the society, but still an organic member of the group (ibid, 149). The stranger is seen as and valuable member of society because it is, in no way connected to any one individual. The stranger holds a certain objectivity, and can be confessed to without the threat of judgment on the confessor (ibid, 145).

Masks have held countless uses and meanings throughout history. Masks have been used in plays, like those of Shakespeare, traditional dances, social gatherings, even as a form of casual or corporal punishment. Although masks have several different uses in different cultural situations, the meaning of the masks is generally the same. Masks are used to conceal an appearance and assume the identity of another. Metaphorically, masks can be used to hide feelings, to protect oneself, and to block out the outside world. Many of these examples are shown in Art Speigelman 's Maus.

The people we see every day are not always who they appear to be. Our family, friends, peers, work associates, and even our own self’s change who we are sometimes to cope or to seem better off than we are. We put on “Mask” to show the person we want to be seen as and often times people wear more than just one. In Flannery O’ Connor’s, “Good Country People” many of her main characters wore mask. They each had their own reasons that they chose to conceal their real identity. Nevertheless, the characters in O’Connor’s short story wanted to hide their true persona’s or deceive other people. Sometimes it was merely done to cope with their tragic pain and in other cases it was done to deliberately take advantage

Determined to find exactly what altered masks can do to an identity, an experiment involving 18 female college students and a clinical trainee was conducted. Gergen’s intentions were to “find the factors of an individual’s choice

Masks portray a sense of mystery. “No one could see me clearly. No one could see my face.” Lucy, Grealy. Masks. Print. The unknown is often intriguing. Generally their worn to portray a character or someone other than yourself and symbolize an imaginary life. For Lucy, it portrayed a sense of freedom. The freedom from being stared at, teased, lonely, and occasionally envious of others. Halloween is the only day that Lucy experience’s an ordinary life. Unlike the majority of other days’ mask are customary and her disability is masked. Providing her with the confidence to express herself freely by asking questions and making comments. “Studies show children with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be bullied than their non-disabled

In today’s society masks are used depending on the specific social group we interact with. Most people tend to have various masks or personalities when they are with specific people; such as with their friends, family, and during work. In Kenneth Gergen’s essay “In Defense of Masks,” he claims that people are not apt to find a specific mask to which they can be true too however, having various masks could be important because it allows people to adapt to various social groups . I disagree with Gergen’s claim and counter argue that utilizing only one specific mask with whomever we interact with will help anyone live a genuine lifestyle. There are various categories that fall into masks; for instance, makeup, clothing, religion, and appearance. Many individuals acquire masks because they seek approval from others or simply because they are mimicking someone. Once someone adapts to having multiple masks, it is difficult to figure out our true identity due to the variety of personalities that are being portrayed.

Simmel defines the stranger as one that is both close and far; that is physically close, but socially distant. He disassociates his concept from the understanding of the stranger as one who comes and goes. Rather, the stranger he speaks of in this case is one who comes and stays, but has not been socialized under the same conditions as mainstream society. Despite this, the stranger is not a person who is withdrawn from society and is unaware of social norms. Rather, someone is inorganically appended to the society, but still an organic member of the group (ibid, 149). The stranger is seen as and valuable member of society because it is, in no way connected to any one individual. The stranger holds a certain objectivity, and can be confessed to without the threat of judgment on the confessor (ibid, 145).

Usually when someone says “masking” they are hiding their true self from others so they won't get hurt or judged. Which connects to the struggle with being different from others, because when someone is different from other people then they feel like they don't belong anywhere which is hard on the person which is why they “mask”

What are masks? One usually thinks it is an object the individual puts on and takes off.

Masks embody a side of ourselves many do not particularly know they have. Many masks are unrecognizable to the human eye, but come to appear when people are around certain others, for example many would not act the same around a teacher versus a friend. Throughout history masks have been worn even by the most cruel men and women; German Nazis. These soldiers of World War II, all wore an appearance that hides their true identity; a shaved head and a uniform transformed, these people into hostile animals. William Golding a film directory and school teacher, noticed these transformations due to being the army at the time and wrote about it in his,novel Lord of the Flies.

Once the man following Vladek is identified as Jew, the reader is shown the strings of the mask hiding his mouse face. Throughout the book, the use of this mask is prominent. On page 155, we are shown the Nazis discovering Vladek and Anja through metaphorically (and literally) taking off their masks. On page 6 Spiegelman first introduced these masks, “You’re a pole like me” states Vladek to a train man, and unaware of Vladek's true identity he sees the “mask”. The physical masks in the books are apparent, which leads the reader to question as to how other characters in the book do not notice them. If Art Spiegelman implies that the characters do not notice others “disguises”, then he is also implying that the characters in the book do not see each other races. The manifestation of animals depicting race is simply a guide to the reader's mind. Why else would the Art Spiegelman in the book create “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” and show humans as the

Mask Many people tend to put on a “mask” to hide their true self. People will act differently to fit in or acquire something. A mask allows for a person to hide their true self and often times helps people deceive others. In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth put on a mask to hide her cruel, manipulative, and greedy self.

In We Wear the Mask, the author’s purpose is to push the reader to feel something about the way things were in his perspective.

The world is full of people wearing masks. These masks come in innumerable different shapes, sizes, and colors. A mask might be the happy face a little girl forces as she walks down the hall after being bullied, the bravery a small child pretends to have after the death of their Grandpa, or any number of different situations. This idea of masks is exemplified by the characters in Hamlet. Hamlet is the story of a young man after his father, the king, is found dead.

The play The Escape; or, a leap for freedom by William Wells Brown presents realistic situations from the era of slavery. Brown provides interacts between slave owners, their mistresses and slaves. The play also presents the idea of slaves masking their true identities. Slaves would often act one way toward their white owner, and act another way in private.