We Wear the Mask
In this paper we will examine how human faces are equated with wearing a mask and lies are a necessary part of everyday life. Throughout the poem Dunbar defends why he feels there is a need to hide the true self. This can be a coping mechanism because historically slaves had to hide their true feelings from their white masters. The masks Dunbar writes about hides and separates the viewer from the viewed just like a performer’s mask on stage is different from real life. An actor wears different personalities as part of their job just like wearing a mask. In this context Dunbar shows that wearing the mask as much of a job as well as necessity that he dislikes doing it but he has no choice. This can be seen when Dunbar writes, But let the world dream other wise We wear the mask! (15-16) Dunbar could also be writing about himself he pretends to be what he wasn’t in order to gain acceptance by his peers. As the son of ex-slaves Dunbar could have suffered discrimination and rejectio!n from his peers unless he pretended or put on a certain attitude. The line but let the world dream other wise can be that if the outside people believe the image that the mask projects (15).
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Relating Dunbars, , wear mask, white masters, wearing mask, counting tears sighs, smile mouth myriad, torn bleeding hearts, mouth myriad subtleties, hearts smile mouth, hearts smile, human guile, torn bleeding, bleeding hearts, smile mouth, mouth myriad, watching public,
Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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