Abstract
Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "We Wear the Mask" represents the emotional and social experiences of marginalized groups under social pressure. This study aims to analyze the symbol of the mask as a representation of the conflict between the public persona and the true self, and its relationship to social oppression. The study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with textual analysis. Data were obtained through close reading of the poem's text and supported by studies of theories of symbolism, social identity, and literary criticism. The analysis was conducted contextually by linking the intrinsic elements of the poem with socio-historical conditions. The results show that the mask functions as a metaphor for social identity formed by external pressure, where individuals hide inner suffering through seemingly happy expressions. The use of the word "we" emphasizes the collective and systemic nature of the experience. This study concludes that this poem has universal relevance in depicting the performativity of identity and emotional oppression in modern social life.
References
Abrams, M. H. (1999). A glossary of literary terms (7th ed.). Heinle & Heinle.
Barry, P. (2009). Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory (3rd ed.). Manchester University Press.
Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2008). Bloom’s modern critical views: Paul Laurence Dunbar. Chelsea House Publishers.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (2007). The souls of Black folk. Oxford University Press.
Dunbar, P. L. (1895). We wear the mask. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44203/we-wear-the-mask
Eagleton, T. (2008). Literary theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). Blackwell Publishing.
Gates, H. L., Jr. (1988). The signifying monkey: A theory of African American literary criticism. Oxford University Press.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books.
Guerin, W. L., Morgan, D., Reesman, J. C., & Willingham, J. R. (2011). A handbook of critical approaches to literature (6th ed.). Oxford University Press.
McKay, N. Y. (Ed.). (2001). Critical essays on Paul Laurence Dunbar. G. K. Hall & Co.
McLean, S.-K. (2015). We use the mask: An analysis of Dunbar’s poetry.
Morgan, T. L. (2011). We wear the mask: Paul Laurence Dunbar and the politics of representative reality. African American Review, 44(4), 725–727. https://doi.org/10.1353/afa.2011.0059
Perrine, L. (1992). Sound and sense: An introduction to poetry (8th ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Rhea, T. (2021). The application of the symbol of the mask in We Wear the Mask. SOAR: Scholarly Open Access Repository.
Tyson, L. (2015). Critical theory today: A user-friendly guide. Routledge.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mickhael Grosso Silaban, Adinda Purnama Indah Lestari Sitorus, Gina Sonia Purba, Magespri Magespri, Yosephin Claudia Aruan, Martina Girsang