The poem We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar reflects back to racial climate of the late nineteenth century. The mask is believed to hide the lies, to hide the debt slavery and the African-American society has paid to mankind, and to hide the tournament that only Christ Jesus can heal. Dunbar wrote this device in a less personal, less emotional way allowing it to be applicable to all sorts of people and circumstances. The poem, We Wear The Mask occurred during the Civil Rights Movement outlining the slave's false emotions, how there is two sides to slavery, and how badly the former slaves desired to escape from captivity. Dunbar focus We Wear The Mask on the tough times of the century where several changes were occurring, and with many …show more content…
Most individuals argue towards this statement by stating that the slaves did not have any other option however, I believe slaves had the option to express their true emotions. Although, fear could have prevent those slaves from expressing their true emotions which kept them in captivity. Yet, some may argue because of the slaves being African-Americans they were taught to express themselves in this particular manner as stated in the following online article. The online article “How white people constructed a fictitious distinction between white and black emotions” declares Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner opinion on the differences between how white and black people show their emotions. He declares the difference between the two ethnics has to do with their existence in America which focused on his opinion regarding the blacks existence in America dealt with more common sense than reflection. Furthermore, him and others believe the true reason behind former slaves showing their emotions has to do with family separation which trigger the blacks to believe that they are not in control of their lives instead the white society is in control of their lives. Moreover, most Caucasian people view African Americans as different from themselves in the long run the Caucasian viewpoint has caused separation between several ethnic groups eventually, leading to the whites becoming more privileged than other ethnic groups. From reading this online article, the different opinions on brutal and degrading treatment against slaves was recognized, but were not taken into account because those individuals were not present during this time period to understand the true emotions from the
Why? Slave owners did not want the slaves to ever turn against them or to know what was going on. Slaves were supposed to be like robots. Do and say as the “master” wanted. Slave owners wanted to normalize this behavior as if it was acceptable. "Masters" controlled slaves to the point that slaves were prohibited to get married. Rufus did not care that Alice wanted to be with Isaac. Rufus only cared that he wanted to be with her. He was going to win over her love one way or another, but that did not change her perception of him as a white man. White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race. Slave owners did not care about how Africans felt. They had power, meaning they did not care if their slaves were tired after hard work from sun up to sun down, all they cared about was money. They sold runaway slaves because they would make a profit off them instead of loose them for free or having them cause trouble on their plantation. For example, Alice and Isaac tried to run away. The white men beat Isaac, cut off his ears, and sold
The poem, "We Wear the Mask”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar is about separating Blacks people from the masks they wear. When Blacks wear their masks they are not simply hiding from their oppressor they are also hiding from themselves. This type of deceit cannot be repaid with material things. This debt can only be repaid through repentance and self-realization. The second stanza of “We Wear the Mask” tells Blacks whites should not know about their troubles. It would only give them leverage over Blacks. Black peoples’ pain and insecurities ought to be kept amongst themselves. There is no need for anyone outside the black race to know what lies beneath their masks. The third stanza turns to a divine being. Blacks look to god because he made them and is the only one that can understand them. They must wear their mask proudly. The world should stay in the dark about who they are. This poem is about Blacks knowing their place and staying in it. This is the only way they could be safe.
... the “Autobiography of the Imprisoned Peon.” He said, “…we had sold ourselves into slavery-and what could we do about it? The white folks had all the courts, all the guns, all the hounds, all the railroads, all the telegraph wires, all the newspapers, all the money, and nearly all the land-and we had only our ignorance, our poverty and our empty hands” (25). Keep in mind that this doesn’t just apply to whites oppressing other races. This applies to everyone that has control and the people they are discriminating against. With the vision of society being composed of a certain race and class and the determination of making the vision a reality, those who don’t meet the expectations may be forced to pay simply because of who they are or what their social status is.
DuBois understands part of the problem. Blacks and whites have become intertwined in a vicious cycle. Slavery itself did not create, but enhanced negative attitudes towards blacks. In quite the same way, the institution of slavery greatly enhanced the way blacks felt about whites. White landowners were responsible for disenfranchisin...
By this time, the mindset of people who owned slaves, thought of ex-slaves as if they were still objects and property to be owned. The inequality and treatment of ex-slaves were ridiculous. Even some objects were more valuable than the life of an ex-slave, or any colored person. Leary, Hammond, and Davis stated in the “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome” article, “Being reminded that our ancestors were treated as property and only as humans when it was profitable to their owners stirred our emotions… The author details how blacks were counted as 3/5 of a person… American slaves had no legal rights as property, but interestingly enough, slaves outside of the United States did have rights and could even buy themselves out of slavery under certain conditions” (Leary, Hammond, and Davis, “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome”). This played a major role into Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome making a lasting effect throughout generations and generations to come. There were people who believed in the great plan of equality and fairness, but those people were very few. Even when President Lincoln passed the emancipation proclamation, people still did not want slaves to be free or even wanted to acknowledge them as people. This started to cause the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome because there was no closure on the situation and the pain that came out of it. To this day,
They basically wore this mask to hide who they really was. The white society saw African American as basically an outsider and as people that were way below them. So many of these people got so a custom to society seeing them in that way that they sort of developed a “double consciousness”. What this mean is that to the world they act a certain way because it the “right” then to do, but at home or places where they can’t be judge they be who they really are. Du Bois states that we should fight back this “Double Consciousness” and just be who we were born to be. Good things come out when we act like the person that we are. We see this a lot during Celia Cruz career. Field Castro was trying to emerge her in this “double consciousness” idea but telling her who she had to be and what to say to the outside world. He wanted to control her very little step but she didn’t give in. The day that she left to Mexico and decided to never return to the island was the first day that she decided to fight back this “double consciousness” idea and just be herself. She didn’t want to do things she wasn’t comfortable, let alone be force to be someone she wasn’t. The day she sang “In Case of No Return” was the day she took of her mask and let the world see her true
While exploring an unknown island and struggling to survive, a group of schoolboys reveal their primitive, barbarous identities in William Golding’s work, Lord of the Flies. Similarly, Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet, describes the hidden nature of individuals in order to protect themselves and conceal their pain. Golding’s novel and Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask,” both express masks as means of escaping reality and a source of strength; however, the pressures of society suppress the characters in Dunbar’s poem while the boys in Lord of the Flies unleash true feelings through their innate savageness.
Looking at The Book of Negroes, these individuals did not have the right to speak out or act upon slavery and the slave trade. “To gaze into another person’s face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own. As I began my long march from home, I discovered that there were people in the world who didn’t know me didn’t love me, and didn’t care whether I lived or died” (pg 29).
In the story "Battle Royal" the narrator's grandfather tells the family to undermind the whites with "yeses" and "grins", he also instructs them to "agree'em to death and destruction". The grandfather felt that in order to keep the family safe and also hold on to the oppression that scars them everyday, they should put on a mask. This will keep the white man pleased and the blacks could keep there self respect because as soon as the opportunity for social equality comes they'll go for it. This didn't seem like a bad idea but it was hard for the narrator to comprehend.
The mask is a form of deception or illusion. Sometimes, it can be worn as both. It hides the true emotions of slaves, keeping the slave master from knowing what is going on in their minds. The mask also allows the slave to have an identity without the master’s detection. The mask gives the illusion that the slave is exactly how the masters believe, ignorant, incapable of true emotion, and unable to think for themselves.
[Slaves] seemed to think that the greatness of their master was transferable to themselves” (Douglass 867). Consequently, slaves start to identify with their master rather than with other slaves by becoming prejudiced of other slaves whose masters were not as wealthy or as nice as theirs, thereby falling into the traps of the white in which slaves start to lose their
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is a lyric poem in which the point of attraction, the mask, represents the oppression and sadness held by African Americans in the late 19th century, around the time of slavery. As the poem progresses, Dunbar reveals the façade of the mask, portrayed in the third stanza where the speaker states, “But let the dream be otherwise” (13). The unreal character of the mask has played a significant role in the lives of African Americans, who pretend to put on a smile when they feel sad internally. This occasion, according to Dunbar, is the “debt we pay to human guile," meaning that their sadness is related to them deceiving others. Unlike his other poems, with its prevalent use of black dialect, Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” acts as “an apologia (or justification) for the minstrel quality of some of his dialect poems” (Desmet, Hart, and Miller 466).
The poems ¨Sympathy¨ and ¨We wear the mask,¨ written by Paul Laurence Dunbar, speak of the plight of African-Americans after the Civil
The Concept of the veil has been a significant symbol of clearly differentiating from the whites, in aspects of political, economical and social prospects. Durkheim explained symbol as “something that stands for something else”(pg. 135). It is a symbol that calls up shared notions and values. In the example of the Blacks in the south, the veil symbolized an “iron curtain” separating the two races, separation and invisibility, of the black and white. The veil had previously been worn because of previous traditions demanding a clear separation of the sexes. The veil is seen as a social barrier to prevent the “others”, black African Americans, from surpassing into the clean and pure white world. Nonetheless Du bois also states, that its possible for one to, lift up the veil when one wishes, and he can also exist in a region on neither side, white nor black, which shows Du bois’ many different meaning and function with the symbol of the veil.
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson are two poems that depict how many people hide their feelings from others. The two poems are similar in theme, but are told from different points of view and differ in plot.