"We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

When reading the poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poem that jumped out to me the most was “We Wear the Mask”. The poem tells of the mask of happiness and gratefulness that the slaves were forced to wear in the presence of their owners. Just like Grandison in “The Passing of Grandison”, slaves were supposed to appear happy and content in their condition in slavery and hide their true desires of freedom. Dunbar writes that “With torn and bleeding hearts [they] smile,” telling of the slaves pain hidden behind the smiles that they are expected to wear (ln. 7). The last stanza reveals the inner thoughts of the slaves and the private prayers that they call out to God. Their suffering was hidden behind the mask and they “let the world dream otherwise” (ln. 15), just like the Colonel in “The Passing of Grandison”. The slave owners chose to believe that their slaves were in the best possible situation that they could find themselves. The belief was that the African Americans required the help and guidance of the White Americans. The position of slavery was often looked at as a role similar to that of a child under the care of apparent. I find this incredibly ironic, especially since the real children of the plantation owners would never be asked to work as a slave. I am currently reading Gone With the Wind and cannot ever see Scarlett O’Hara being required to work by her family as her father’s slaves do. I believe that the views of the plantation owners were only superficially accepted and that deep down, they knew that they were lying to themselves. I do not see how they could hold such false notions while treating other humans so inhumanly.