ipl-logo

African-Americans Wear The Mask By Paul Laurence Dunbar

915 Words4 Pages

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 …show more content…

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

Show More
Related
1208 Words | 5 Pages

Created in the waning days of World War II, Philip Evergood’s oil painting, Wheels of Victory , may at first seem to be a celebration of American industry. The foreground of the 1944 painting is dominated by powerful iron girders, tanks, and a train engine, while an endless line of oil tankers crisscross the background. However, when examined more closely in the context of time, the painting seems to possess a more somber mood than a victorious one. While white train workers gather together in the center of the painting, a black soldier looks on despondently. I believe that the oil painting, Wheels of Victory, by Philip Evergood serves to remind its viewers that although African-Americans contributed to America’s victory in war overseas, they were not allowed to hold good jobs once they returned home to America.

Read More
267 Words | 2 Pages

He wants people to avoid thinking that developing only one true self identity is healthy. A mask allows an individual to see his or her full potential by not having a true identity. Masks have multiple identities based on the certain situations and environments (circumstances) the person is having(undergoing). I agree with Gergens interpretation (assertion) and his psychological

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

The lives of everyone were impacted during the time of slavery. African Americans faced daily obstacles in their lives while being considered as property. In the excerpt from “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” published by Harriet Jacobs, and the interview “Charity Anderson Mobile, Alabama” the story of Charity Anderson, both reflections from former slaves, reveal opposing points of view of their unjust lives as slaves by their treatment while considered slaves, and their differing levels of education. Not all slaves were treated the same, even though many shed blood on the plantations of their masters. Treatment differed on the master, and treatment was not cruel all the time.

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

“We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes-.” This quote is from the poem, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar which is a poem about the struggle that Paul Laurence Dunbar’s family went through during their lives being enslaved. This quote represents the role that a mask can play in covering up true self. By wearing a mask, a person is covering up their unique features. Also, they are not letting anyone get to know them as well as hiding their persona from the public.

Read More
293 Words | 2 Pages

Famous Astronomers Project Antony Hewish was born the youngest of three sons May 11, 1924 in Fowey, United Kingdom. He grew up in Newquay, on the Atlantic coast and while living there, Hewish developed the love for boats and the sea. Hewish attended King’s College and University of Cambridge in 1942. He was active in war at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough and the Telecommunications Research Establishment. Antony’s decision to begin research in radio astronomy was heavily influenced by not just his wartime background that consisted of electronics and antennas, but also by one of his teachers, Jack Ratcliffe.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

Such personification mirrors Dunbar’s use of figurative language, which relates the poems in more ways than one. Dunbar touches on human features such as cheeks and eyes in his poem but also uses a spiritual element to advance his point of view. Furthermore, “We Wear the Mask” was written in 1896; a period in American history that was post-slavery but still had widespread discrimination. The spiritual connotation within Dunbar’s poem can allude to African American churches and/or the hymns slaves sung on plantations. Nevertheless, the struggle of African Americans is a symbol of both presented

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

In Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask” the speaker wears a mask to hide his internal suffering because he does not want the rest of the world to think he is weak. This poem relates the prejudice black people face against white people. The speaker starts the poem with the lines, “We wear the mask that grins and lies,” (1). Here he describes the kind of “masks” that he wears.

Read More
540 Words | 3 Pages

The mask is like putting a pretty painting over a hole in the wall. The wall would now look appealing on the outside but, broken behind it. Montag didn’t want that pretty painting anymore to hide his brokenness, but learn to express them and understand his emotions. These “happy masks” relate to my theme because in a perfect world you are not acting happy but living happy.

Read More
914 Words | 4 Pages

Masks hide the truth and obscure the facts. They form a barrier between what is real and what is an illusion. Yet, during from the moment blacks were brought to this continent in chains, to the moment they were granted civil rights in the 1960’s, masks were a method of survival. Another way of life for African Americans was the practice of signifying. Signifying is mostly seen in the black literary tradition as a means for African Americans to take back power from the white through misinformation and deception.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

The white population could not understand the emotional and physical abuse the colored people were experiencing. This concept was known as living under a “veil”, since African Americans had such a different view then those of the white people. Du Bois shares a personal experience when a Southern girl refused to trade a visiting card with a man like himself. This event made Du bois realize how he was “different from the others” (Du Bois 3). Living with this veil, African Americans had to come to realization of their double-consciousness.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

The Truth: 12 Years a Slave is an autobiography written by Solomon Northup who was born in New York on July 10, 1807. Solomon was a free man who was sold into slavery in 1841 and only regained his freedom in 1853. He held many occupations including craftsman, farmer, and violin player. In 1841 he encountered two men who offered him work playing his fiddle in a circus. He decided to take the offer and followed the men to New York where he was later believed to be drugged and enslaved.

Read More
473 Words | 2 Pages

In We Wear the Mask, the author’s rhetorical purpose is to teach the reader why people hide behind their emotions. Dunbar states in the poem that “We wear the mask”, but what mask? What are ‘we’ hiding from? Dunbar explains that we (everyone) are hiding our feelings about one another. He is trying to make the reader realize what people are hiding from everyone else.

Read More
1594 Words | 7 Pages

It is doubtful that there are any human beings on Earth that have not donned a mask of some sort. Some masks come in the form of the very clothes we wear, while others may be as intangible as our self-presentation. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies details the story of how one group of British boys establishes a civilization on a desert island only to watch it fall apart due to infighting and savagery; it is essentially a study of masks and how they influence human behavior and identity, ultimately resulting in a cautionary tale about letting emotions fester. Other works, such as Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” and Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory,” provide insights as to what masks are worn by humans every day; while Dunbar’s perspective as a post-emancipation African-American reflects the need for dignity in the midst of post-war persecution and prejudice, Robinson’s perspective as a middle-class American distorts the American Dream through the suicide of its title character. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the portrayal of masks’ functions aligns with their presentation in Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” and Robinson’s poem

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

As Frantz Fanon tells us very thoughtfully, “ There are many idiots in the world . and having said it, I have the burden of proving it”. This means throughout everything that’s happening in the world we have been committed to not trust ourselves, but another. We can't show what we really are because of many things that's going on today, problem we face many problems which can make our self- esteem goes down because we only think of others, what they think about us. A mask it’s something that gives you comfort, which you can be yourself otherwise to fit in the environment.

Read More
717 Words | 3 Pages

The speaker wants to feel the uprising of her sad people's souls that is covered by all the hate and discrimination in her society. The speaker states, “I want to feel the surging/ Of my sad people’s soul/ Hidden by a minstrel-smile.” (Bennett). The African American community had to deal with many forms of racism and discrimination in the 1920’s due to Jim Crow laws and slavery, and often lived a life full of segregation due to White people's prejudice. The words “minstrel-smile” represent a form of racism known as black face.

Read More

More about African-Americans Wear The Mask By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Related Topics

Open Document