Why Do We Believe in the Manner To

We Wear Masks

Everyone wishes to be accepted and feel a sense of belongingness in life . Experience tells us that the quickest and most humanly thing to do is to hide our true selves , our true emotions and our true feelings and hide behind a disguise or camouflage . In this poem , the mask is used as a metaphor for the psychological fazade that we create to conceal our true feelings . In the poem , the mask grins and smiles but underneath the person sighs and cries . The face beneath the mask is crying out

in desperation or disappointment but wears a mask in to feel accepted and to avoid humiliation . These are all very true in almost all aspects and all levels of our relationships , be it with our families , loved ones , friends , classmates , neighbors etc . In the family , we can not help sibling rivalries , but often , we can not show our disappointment or desperation or even envy . And so , we put on a fazade that displays an acceptable outward emotion . In our loved ones , how often do we feel left out or feel a sense of discontent ? And how do we let the other know our true feelings

Throughout literature , one discovers that the themes or motif of masks is a reoccurring subject . A person may appear one way on the outside but may be feeling the true emotions with a false appearance . In this poem , we are told this message

This poem has its historical roots in the experience the African-American slaves of the early United States . They are our prime examples of how emotions can be repressed . History tells us that they were treated with such disrespect and humiliation that that they have to hide their true feelings in a society that repressed them that is why it is understandable why they would mask their true thoughts and their emotions . They were forced to speak and act in certain ways in to make their lives easier . How they acted was dictated for them by the society at that time and had severe repercussions for not following the norm . Their lives had , to a point , been taken away from them . But , there were some things that could never be taken away from them : their inner strength and their spirituality . No matter how a slave was treated , how hard he had to work , or how little he had , he did have his own thoughts and beliefs . Those things could never be taken from him . This poem cries out with the hurt that African-Americans throughout history , suffered with . To be able to endure this daily persecution , these people had to draw on their inner strength . When Dunbar wrote "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile " it is obvious of the agony felt and of how a smile is sometimes worn in to camouflage one 's true emotions . A deep , religious faith was a saving grace to these people as a whole . One 's spirituality can carry them through...