White Lies Natasha Trethewey Meaning

Throughout history, literature has been used as an excellent form of communication across society. More specifically, however, poetry serves as a well respected medium used to convey messages, as its messages are often displayed in a less obvious manner, which means that they can be enjoyed when interpreted both narrowly and broadly. Poems about racial and social inequality, political issues, and intraracial discrimination have had a lasting impact on the world of literature as well as sectors of society beyond literature. For instance, the autobiographical poem "White Lies" by Natasha Trethewey tells the story of a young African American girl in the south battling the negative connotations of her very fair complexion. This poem addresses the

highly disputed subject of colorism (discrimination based on one's skin color),  and its effects on African Americans.  For many this type of discrimination often triggers guilt and denial because the victims feel the need to validate there self worth by partaking in sometimes immoral situations. These thems are suggested by the title, the author's diction, and even the structure of this poem. The structure and poetic elements of this poem suggest that the author is filled with guilt and denial about her past actions surrounding her skin color, but the sincerity of her tone is highly questionable.  
"White Lies" exemplifies the topic of colorism, a very prevalent issue in the African American Community, and how the societal standard of beauty affects the mindset and actions of young girls. The author quickly reveals this to the reader in the first stanza: 
The lies I could tell,  
when I was growing up  
light bright, near white,  
high yellow, red boned  
in a black place, 
were just white lies (Threthewey, 1-6) 
Many would argue that the poet is simply giving the reader clear exposition and incite into the later developed plot, but in actuality this stanza is the first sign of the author's guilt and denial. In this one sentence-stanza she uses several connotative words that relate to African Americans of a fair complexion. These words reveal her associations with her own race; she does not feel that she is truly black because of her skin color, and how others view her. However, these words suggest to the reader that she knows that society views her as Black despite the fact that she is biracial, as she states she was "[…]near white[...]in a black place" (4-5). The first stanza alone could stand as her "life story;" it tells who she is, what she looks like, where she is from, and that she is torn in terms of the way she wants to identify herself. In relation to this, the first stanza is obviously written from the perspective of a black female. Meaning that she most clearly identifies with being black, but does not want to accept the negativity associated with the race in her everyday life.  
Furthermore, in the black community, fair skinned blacks are seen as privileged because they are "closer to white" than the average brown skinned individual. In saying this, the treatment she received from blacks was probably extremely negative because she wasn’t "black enough," and she would not have been considered "white enough" to fit in with whites. At the time of her adolescent years society was still advancing culturally, so white would have still been the hegemonic standard of beauty.  

Therefore, Trethewey chose to convince whites, that she was indeed "white" instead of proving herself to be "black enough" and have to struggle as a black female in society. This decision was clearly not very difficult for Trethewey, but she did feel that there was a sense of immorality in her choice. This caused guilt to arise which led to further troubles in her life.  
The second stanza of this poem tells of how Trethewey supposedly betrayed herself and her culture by passing for white.

This stanza is rather long in comparison to the others. Her structural choices, suggest that she was segregating her black life from her white life in forming one long stanza about her encounters while passing for white.  At one point in this stanza she reveals that she lied about where she lived, and she lied about where she got her dresses. The place which she says she buys her dresses is extremely significant because it is called Maison Blanche. Maison Blanche in French means White House, yet again this pushes the notion that she is extremely self-conscious of her cultural background, which exposes the level of denial she is experiencing. She also recounts an incident where "...a white girl said (squeezing [her] hand), Now we have three of us in this class." One could perceive this as another one of her "white lies." The girl quite possibly could have been an African American who was also very fair skinned  acknowledging that there were now three black girls in the class. But in telling the story she chose to say white girl as a method to convey the great longing she had to be as white as possible, and how she admired the girl for being able to pass as well as she

did.  
Lastly, the most significant portions of the third stanza are her punishment and her reaction to this punishment. Trethewey states: 
But I paid for it every time  
Mama found out. 
She laid her hands on me,  
then washed my mouth  
with Ivory soap. This  
is to purify, she said,  
and cleanse you of your lying tongue. 
Believing her, I swallowed suds 
thinking they'd work  
from the inside out ( 21-28) 
The beginning of the stanza reveals her home life to the reader, but it also reveals the meaning of "White Lies." She states that she hoped the soap would purify her.

White is most often associated with the principles of cleanliness and purity; therefore, she thought that being white meant that your beauty and purity were incomparable to any other race, and this led her to believe that being white was the only answer to the conflict in her life. The Ivory soap relates the idea of purity to the title, and suggest that the white lies she told were lies that she thought were going to cleanse her life of negativity; they were lies that she thought would wash the blackness away. She believed lying about her race would give her a better chance at happiness and

success.  
"White Lies" not only connects to the idea of social acceptance, but also self love. Trethewey's guilt and denial is displayed through her writing, and one could say she is using her own experiences to better society. Trethewey reveals her longing to fit in, which comes across to the reader as denial, as she wants to be a part of both races. And does not known how to cope with the negativity of being associated with either end of the spectrum.  
Therefore she chooses to conform to her surrounding by pleasing her mother at home and conforming to societal norms elsewhere.  Although the poem does not offer a solution, its themes and diction are very constructive, and could encourage the reader to change their ways if they share a similar situation. This poem as well as all others is an extremely important resource for society. It allows for entertainment, while also offering a way for young and old alike to connect and better society.