The Paradox By Paul Laurence Dunbar Essay

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African American poet in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He became one of the first influential Black poets in American literature, showing much representation for this community. Being born to formerly enslaved parents provided him with first-hand knowledge of the treatment of slaves and African Americans during this time. Much of Dunbar’s work depicts the difficulties of life for African Americans, along with the efforts that were made towards equality. Paul Laurence Dunbar uses symbolism, extended metaphors, and imagery to tell a deeper story throughout his poems “Sympathy”, “The Paradox”, and “In Summer Time.” To begin with, Paul Laurence Dunbar was able to use symbolism to disguise issues,

Dunbar’s poem “The Paradox” holds one of his most elaborate extended metaphors. The word paradox, as defined by the English dictionary, is “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement”. The title itself tells the reader exactly what they are to expect in the poem. The poem gives an imaginative description of different paradoxes that plague people and their lives. The extended metaphor through the use of paradoxes details many statements like, “I am thy fool in the morning, thou art my slave in the night” (Dunbar, “The Paradox” 19-20). The contradictory situations Dunbar describes show that anyone can believe or become anything. The poem gives the feeling that one cannot be without the other. Dunbar’s comparisons connect separate things that may otherwise be unrelated. These metaphors are used with great intention towards the meaning of the poem itself. As previously mentioned, Dunbar’s writings contain many of the same themes which typically describe African American struggles during his time. “The Paradox” does a profound job of showcasing differences and then connecting their likelihood. Dunbar used this to compare White and Black people because, during this time, society focused only on their differences, causing much

Smethurst wrote in his paper “Paul Laurence Dunbar and Turn-into-the-20th-Century African American Dualism” that “Dunbar seems consciously to confound any easy linkage of racial categories to divisions of high, folk, and popular literature” (Smethurst, 5). The connections hidden in his word choice add depth to the meaning of the story and can be seen through his use of the extended metaphor. Smethurst uses many examples from a variety of Dunbar’s work, pointing out the clever use of metaphors that are commonly seen in his writings. Smethurst claims, “[I]t may seem obvious, but, appropriately enough, this metaphor (and its relation to the logic of the poem) is more complicated than it might appear” (Smethurst, 6). This shows the precise intention Dunbar has when using extended metaphors. His methodical approach to writing helps to give a deeper meaning to his