We Wear the Mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem reflects the injustice in society and moral dilemmas. The poem presents the society as a damn and cold organization that does not realize or recognize the feelings of the individuals in it (Dunbar). Individuals in society did not do express their pain physically because they have worn a mask that prevents other individuals from seeing their true expression; ‘It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.’ Individuals in the society expressed by Dunbar pretend that their life is better when, in reality, they experience mental torture. The poem shows that there are some people within the society treated badly THUS WEARing a mask of happiness and contentment, while they cry to God for his grace. Fake happiness exists in a society that does not support justice systems. Individuals are forced in the society to live hiding their true feelings behind the mask of happiness.
The author compares appearance and reality to show how individuals that are unfortunate in the communities the mask as a surviving tool in the unjust society. The poem reflects the society that existed during the American civil war. This was a period when African American society was facing a lot of discrimination in society (Gale 15). The poem reflects the feelings and the experiences of black Americans in society. Individuals at this time were unemotional and cold. To survive, people had to hide their suffering, pain, and miseries at the bottom of their hearts. ‘Why should the world be over-wise? In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask.’ The human interaction does not allow individuals to express their feelings without facing distress and agony. The interaction supported physical interventions towards each other rather than a psychological understanding of each other.
The fact that individuals do not express their pain to society depicts society as the one causing this pain to the people. This is the pain the majority of the society has agreed to apply over the minority, and it would be wrong to talk about (Russert 34). The poet shows that society will always support policies that are good to the majority and ignore the suffering of the minority. The minority are unheard since they are supposed to show gladness to society. The minority does not discuss the pain they are facing among themselves. This causes deceit and lies even in the suffering group. These lies make matters worse since they will continue to suffer as far as the society and the group affected is quite.
The poem teaches individuals within society to pay closer attention to the feelings and the experiences of others. People in society use different masks to hide their true feelings. According to the poem, the happiness masks covered the cheeks and the eyes which express best the feelings of individuals. Individuals mastered the art of hiding their pain through smiles and temporary happiness. In contemporary society, individuals should focus on the deeper understanding of the other individuals so that to avoid participating in injustice activities that hurt them (Harrell Jr 20). The majority within the society should provide an opportunity for the minority to express their concerns without fear. This will contribute to the unpeeling of the masks.
Work Cited
Gale, Cengage Learning. A study guide for Paul Laurence Dunbar’s” We Wear the Mask.” Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015.
Russert, Wilfried. “‘We Wear the Mask’: Modern’Masks,’Reflexivity, and Black Practices of Comparing in the Harlem Renaissance.” FIAR: Forum for Inter-American Research. Vol. 12. No. 1. 2019.
Harrell Jr, Willie J. We wear the mask: Paul Laurence Dunbar and the politics of representative reality. The Kent State University Press, 2010.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence. “We Wear The Mask.” POETRY FOUNDATION, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44203/we-wear-the-mask. Accessed 7 Mar 2020.