Realism Project- "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask"

Paul Dunbar portrays both Realism and Naturalism through his two poems, "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask." Born of parents who had been enslaved themselves, Dunbar found himself hearing stories of the hardships of slavery as he grew up ("Meet" 568). He went through a hard time of his own when his father died, Dunbar himself at a young age ("Meet" 568). Dunbar seemed to have continued to hold on to his sorrows for the rest of his life, for in the two poems "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask," a dark, gloomy, and pessimistic viewpoint seems to be consistently prominent. "Douglass," written about Frederick Douglass, is about the two of them, both African American men to whom slavery had effected quite a bit ("Meet" 568). Douglass and Dunbar traveled together occasionally, since they were both African American poets dealing with common subjects ("Meet" 568). "Douglass," specifically though, is about the hardships they both grew up with and how it seems that the rest of the country seems to be pretending it just did not happen; the white men want to pretend they never treated African Americans so terribly when it obviously took place ("Douglass" 570). Dunbar is disgusted by this, and he feels that everybody is almost faking that everything is okay when really everything could collapse right back down again ("Douglass" 570). "We Wear the Mask" is actually a very interesting poem because it could be related to almost anyone, not just African Americans, although obviously Dunbar intended it to be referring to the African Americans. In it he wrote of the "mask" that he, as well as others like him, put on to make others believe that everything is okay when really things are awful ("We" 571). However, Dunbar feels that the rest of the world does not even necessarily deserve to see the true side of him or anyone else; they obviously do not care enough to really want to see what lies underneath the mask ("We" 571).

Realism is very prominent in these two poems. Each poem describes realistic situations in which Dunbar is facing the negative but still realistic obstacles that still seem to stand in his way, such as segregation. Instead of trying to pretend everything is okay or that it is all better, Dunbar is looking his troubles right in the face and admitting that they are all to real, which definitely is a characteristic of Realism as he expresses it in his poems (Diamond). Dunbar does not exaggerate on his viewpoints; while they might seem extremely troubling or a little too over the edge, that is how he truly did feel, and, as a middle class African American, many other probably agreed with that mindset. Because of this, Realism is definitely portrayed within these two poems (Diamond). Naturalism is also evident. Born to a family of slaves, Dunbar pursued his dreams in writing and became the first African American to make a living solely off of his literature ("Meet" 568). That is truly a rags to riches situation, which Naturalism portrays quite often (Giles). This is an incredible achievement, although he does not necessarily seem happy about it in his poems. Relating back to Realism, even though Dunbar achieved so much, he was still incredibly unhappy, which he wrote about. People were able to see that and relate to him: the reality of his words allowed readers to see the honesty and truthfulness through his pain. "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mast" portray both Realism and Naturalism.

WORKS CITED

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 28, 2011).

Dunbar, Paul L. “Douglass.” American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 570. Print.

Dunbar, Paul L. “We Wear the Mask.” American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 571. Print.

Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 9, 2011).

"Meet Paul Laurence Dunbar." American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 568. Print.