Writer's Notebook

We Wear the Mask- Paul Laurence Dunbar

"We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes-

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile," (lines 1-4)

This small excerpt from the poem shows despair and grief behind the people wearing the mask. Dunbar really tries to portray a sense of denial and hiding behind the mask or shielding yourself from the rest of the world. This poem reminds me of slavery and the cruelty displayed towards minorities in the United States. There is always going to be someone who is picked on or someone that people are against, back then it was African American people, other times in history it was Asian Americans, and now it is Hispanics. These people have to hide behind all their hard coming because they realize that no one will give them sympathy. This poem shows that they those people don't want to be known for being weak and regretful, but instead they wanted to be remembered as being strong and putting up with all the things that occurred in their lives. The mask is symbolic of everything being okay, and they would rather have the world see them as something they are not than know them for something they are.

The technique that really stands out to me in this poem is the use of pathos. Dunbar's word choice plays a key part in developing pathos. The whole poem is about describing their turmoil with words instead of with events and occurrences. Instead of telling about times when they were hurt they indirectly talk about the good times. The poem talks about how people don't want the world to see their pain but by saying this the reader can see what these people are actually going through. "Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs?" This quotation shows how the author talks about what they don't want the world to know, which helps the development of pathos. By pointing out that they would rather be seen as happy than as sad it stresses the point of sad an why they feel this way. The mask helps with the development of pathos as well because it shows the importance of the mask and why the people are wearing it. This poem shows that even though people's situations might be horrid they would rather pretend to live happily than face their life.