African-Americans Wear The Mask By Paul Laurence Dunbar

The 1800’s to the early 1900’s were one of the harshest periods of history for African-Americans living in the United States. Racism and discrimination plagued the many households in the country. Laws prohibited the rights of African-Americans giving them no opportunity and no chance to live a normal life in the states. Many African Americans were forced to be slaves, having to obey the masters of the property they lived on. The immense suffering of the African-American people caused the necessity of painting on a happy face as a survival tactic. This is emphasized in the poem “We Wear the Mask,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar who challenged that while slaves may appear happy and docile, were in reality suffering. Dunbar’s describes the pain of the slaves

In the second stanza the world is described as being “over-wised,” serving as a metaphor for society having too much say in the choices of the speaker(6). The insistence on counting and tallying the pains of the speaker by the oppressors is what makes the world “over-wised” . The narrator then goes on to answer his own question, asserting that it is better to continue operating under the guise of self-satisfaction, fooling the rest of the world, refusing to give them the power that comes with true knowledge(7-9). The mask becomes a metaphor for the psychological façade that conceals the true feelings of the mask wearer. Although the mask grins, the face beneath the mask may display desperation or disappointment. The conclusion drawn in these lines – that it’s better and safer to wear the mask and continue to fool the world – is ironic because the purpose of poem is to remove the “mask” and expose the truth. This brings the reader into the poem; only the reader, along with the speaker, know about the mask and why it’s used. This shared secret bonds the reader and the speaker, allowing for a powerful opportunity to experience life through the