Comparing Poems 'White Lies And The Harlem Dancer'

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The subject of self identity and “finding yourself” is a very popular topic. Some people may go on six month hikes, or take a year off of work and travel. Others write books, journals and poetry to express how they feel and get out all of their emotions on paper. People do these things so that they can find out who they really are, and take the time to get to know themselves. The discovery of self identity is represented in these three poems, “ White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey, “We Wear The Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay. “White Lies” By Natasha Trethewey is an emotional poem that talks bout about a young girl that was African American, she was ashamed of who she was and the color of her skin. The speaker is Trethewey herself. She starts out by saying “The lies I could tell, when I was growing up.” (Trethewey 1-2) She uses vivid colors such as …show more content…

He implies in the first line that the mask “grins and lies”(Dunbar) which is proving that the mask is lying because it is smiling, when the person wearing it isn't happy. Dunbar says in line four “With torn and bleeding hearts we smile”(Dunbar) this line alone shows that even with a bleeding and broken heart people still hide their grief from others, and pretend to be cheerful. The last line of the poem states “but let the world dream otherwise, we wear the mask!”(Dunbar) which is implying that when people are miserable and in pain, we wear a mask so that others wont know. Paul Laurence Dunbar was a black man in a very racist time. The “we” in the poem could be referring to the human race in general or, African Americans and the hardships they encountered. The theme of self identity is represented in this poem strongly, the mask itself is discussed throughout the whole poem as it covers up how we are truly

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