Poetry Journal #2

We Wear the Mask by Paul Lawrence Dunbar: Literary Critic

The speaker of this poem can be not only an individual, but a group of people who go through life acting a certain way, even though they may want to be something else. Through the masks, the individuals hide all the pain they have suffered. The occasion of this poem could be anywhere at any time. The audience seems to be people who know what it feels like to have to live life a certain way, even though one may be very unhappy. The purpose of the poem is so people can realize the suffrage and unhappiness that many individuals have. They try to hide this unhappiness, but inside it is killing them. Because they wear the masks, no one realizes all the pain they have gone through. The subject is those who go through life trying to conceal something that is causing pain. The tone of the poem is unhappiness, because although one may try to hide all the pain, it is killing them.

I believe the author is effective in conveying his message through out the poem because his use of words creates a strong imagery. It is easy to visualize what the people have gone through, which makes the poem very strong. The rhyming also adds to the message of the poem, because it gives it a flow in which one can understand what is going on. The fact that the line, “We wear the mask”, is repeated through out the poem many times only emphasizes how the group of people act as if nothing is hurting them. Through the masks, they hide all of the pain that they feel and act as if nothing is wrong. I feel like a strong connection to this poem would be how slavery changed the lives for many individuals. They suffered so much pain but had to live with a certain mask on so that no one would see how much they are hurting. Through the connection to slavery, it makes it easier to see the message of the poem. To see how far people are willing to go to hide all the pain they have suffered and do not want many to know about.