Analysis of We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar Essay -- Slavery

Analysis of We prevail the Mask by Paul Laurence DunbarWe Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a renowned piece oflit that has been the subject of various literary criticismsover the years. Because of the verse forms indirectness and generalizedambiguity, the interpretation of the we that wears the mask andwhy they do so is left nem con undisclosed. It is up to theinterpreter and the support given by the interpreter to vex avalid representation of the meaning that lies beneath the mask. Onesuch(prenominal) analysis of We Wear the Mask is presented by Peter Revell on scallywag 71 of his book Paul Laurence Dunbar, which was published in 1979by G. K. residence hall & Co. Unfortunately, the given argument nearly shamesthe profoundness of Paul Laurence Dunbars numbers with its brevity andlack of sufficient support. In Revells short and spineless interpretation of Dunbars We Wear theMask, he suggests that it is impossible for the non- shadowy reader to make it inspiration or ad monition from the subject matter, and that itwas written from within a black experience and exclusively for a blackaudience. However, this analysis asshole be viewed as primarily invalidbecause as Revell makes this claim, he fails to pull up stakes solid evidencefrom the textual matter that would fully booster his assumption. He justpulls an entire stanza from the poem to illustrate his point, withoutreferencing specific words or phrases that would square away hisargument. If Revell were to have supplied more fully the evidence of Dunbarsother numbers of the time, showing how it objectively displayed a blacktheme and straightforwardly turn to the injustices of slavery, thena parallel of similarity could have been drawn amid the two and his... ...s sensation such mask that profoundly affectedDunbar personally.Revell failed to test the possibility that We Wear the Mask couldrepresent anything but the turmoil the black slaves endured because ofDunbars disposition as a descen dent of slaves. However, theinterpretation that this poem speaks to all people is supported morefully through the text as a result of Dunbars use of the universalwe in coercion with religious reference. All people wear thismask and until one figures out the most appropriate way to take itoff, the world breathing in otherwise and all will continue to fool and befooled by the worlds countless masks. Works CitedRevell, Peter. Paul Luarence Dunbar. United States of the States G.K.Hall & Co., 1979Brawly, Benjamin. Paul Laurence Dunbar Poet of his People. New YorkThe University ofNorth Carolina Press, 1936.