Under The Painted Sky Analysis

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Self-Harming or Self-Helping? Halloween night: children run around screaming for candy in different costumes and masks, pretending to be something they are not. Even though that day is only for 24 hours, many people hide themselves and their true identity longer than that. Throughout history in society and in different cultures, there have been masks. In ancient times, the Greek, Romans, Chinese, Indians, and Japanese used masks in a variety of different ways, one of them including theater. In tribal societies, masks assisted in witchcraft/sorcery and curing illness. Masks have a variety of purposes and uses in modern society; to fit in, to be accepted, religion purposes, ritual uses, to hide, and to protect others/yourself. Despite the fact …show more content…

When masking yourself, you can protect yourself and others. In the book Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee, the protagonists Samantha and Annamae have to change their identity and appearances into men to escape from trouble. In this case, it was essential that they wore a mask and hid their true identity. If the girls didn’t wear the mask, they could’ve got caught and been sentenced to jail or even death. In the clip “My Dad’s Story” by Metlife, the dad is is hiding his true emotions while changing his persona and lying to his daughter about their wealth. If the dad told his daughter the truth, she would be worried about him and not as happy. The dad just wanted her to focus on her life and have a better life than him. He was trying to help her and make her successful. Some may say this is bad because you’re not being candid with each other. It is better to mask yourself and protect others’ feelings so they don’t get hurt. Many short films and stories show that masks can be both beneficial and harmful. In some situations, wearing a mask can help your life and protect the ones you love. However, many times when wearing a mask can destroy your self identity and ruin trust with one another. Therefore, people should wear masks temporarily and know the right time to use them. Society struggles with the balance of this and when to reveal one’s true self. Most people today use masks to gain acceptance from one