We Wear The Mask #2

We can never judge a book by its cover or rather; we should never judge an individual unless we have experienced what they have. An individual might portray different characteristics but from within what they feel is undefined. The true nature of an individual is unveiled only if the individual is willing to share his feeling and emotions. This is the same message being conveyed by Paul Laurence Dunbar in his poem “We Wear the Mask “. The author, who lived in the 19th century, was trying to convey a message that, displayed several features and also gave poetic thoughts as it examines the need for a unique way of beating around the bush in the world. The person speaks in the first person plural implying that the speaker was addressing a given group of individuals in society. The first stanza unveils the speaker to pay a debt to human slyness by wearing a mask that smirks and lies.
The poem has hidden pain and suffering that black slaves frequently stumbled upon. Dunbar’s main focus was to express the struggle for equality for the blacks. The mask, in this case, was the pain faced by the blacks that they struggled to hide from the whites or their owners so as not to show their weakness. The feelings would include being angry, facing frustrations, sadness, among other pains. His poem pinpoints the lies people display in society, and the hidden secrets behind our eyes. In this context, the slaves hid their pain in lies. In other situations, one might argue that the mask mi…