We Wear the Mask by Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Personal Response
Dunbar’s poem is truly one of my favorites. His message of hiding behind a mask is so much like what goes on around me. We live in a society where being true to oneself is not acceptable any more. Rather, we have begun to assign ourselves personas; we have begun to wear the masks. I have seen how others change to conform to what society thinks is right, but what about uniqueness. Are we supposed to live that behind! I see this every where: children, teenagers, and adults too. Media is restricting our thoughts. We see supermodels on TV and we think that beauty only comes in 6’1 size 3 packages. Those who cannot fit the motto are stuck hiding behind a mask, hiding how beautiful they truly are. Our children are growing up not knowing who they are for all their life they have worn the mask. A mask that hides emotions, that hides, fears, that hides flaws. But it this is what makes us human and people seem to be forgetting that. Yet, humans cannot escape the mask, simply because we want to be accepted. Only until we start realizing that we have been hiding, erasing little by little who we truly are, will we be able to accept one another despite our differences, despite our flaws. We need to let the world hear our cries, see our pain, and hear our thoughts. But most importantly, we need to realize for ourselves that we are living behind masks and figure out who we truly are. Yes humans are complex, but definitely much more interesting than a simple mask.
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3 comments:
k bonito, mira la hora! no wonder we get along!
When I first read the poem I also interpreted the same way; we wear masks to hide who we really are. We aspire to be somebody else so by wearing the masks we are hiding our true selves because we are ashamed of that. Your interpretation and explanation makes me understand it better though, thanks!
Here is something we have in common cause this is one of my favorite poems too... I also chose to post it on my blog as well. Similar to you, i talk about how despite my situation with the whole immigration process i wear a mask to shiel my pain and stress just so that i can get by and be the happy person that i normally am. We can relate to one another in how at times we just need to suck it up and deal-- even though we may or may not want to. Im glad you chose this poem.
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