Tom Rogers Prize-Winning Essay, 2009Stony Brook University, Department of English |
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Paul Laurence Dunbar's Double Consciousnessby Amanda Korber |
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Amanda Korber is a senior at Stony Brook University and will be graduating in May with her Bachelor of Arts in English and Sociology. She is a member of the Honors College, and has spent much of her undergraduate career exploring her interests in social welfare and African American literature and history. Upon graduating she plans on spending a year preparing for law school, where she will pursue her passion for public interest law. She wrote this paper in Fall 2008 for the Honors English seminar, EGL 490, directed by Professor Susan Scheckel. |
Paul Laurence Dunbar is known for his dialect poetry, and is often
accused of promulgating racist and nostalgic notions of slavery in the
post Civil War United States. Upon reading Dunbar's poetry, however, it
becomes immediately obvious that two voices run through his work: the
first is the dialect voice that mourns the loss of slavery, but the
second is a more socially conscious voice that speaks in standard
English and recognizes the injustices faced by African Americans. When
Dunbar's work is framed within the context of double consciousness and
masking, his true opinions about African American rights become more
prominent, and he can no longer be viewed simply as a dialect poet. The double voice of Dunbar's poetry can be understood in the context of the struggle that W. E. B. Du Bois would later call the double consciousness of African Americans. In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois explains: "One ever feels his two-ness,-an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body" (Du Bois 898). There are essentially two people within each African American that have to reconcile their differences. According to Du Bois, the ultimate goal is to merge these two selves in such a way that neither identity is compromised or lost (899). Dunbar's two styles of poetry demonstrate perfectly how both the voice of an American and the voice of an African lived within him, just as Du Bois suggests. In Dunbar's dialect poetry his American self dominates and speaks to the widespread American concerns that existed in the post Civil War United States. As the country was is shambles, Dunbar expresses nostalgia for the past and simpler times. In Dunbar's refined poetry his African self emerges and speaks to the racist representations of African Americans that littered American popular culture. Just as Du Bois suggests of every African American, Dunbar was not African or American, but a man who was a combination of the two and so had to struggle and contend with the desires of both his selves. In "We Wear the Mask," Dunbar tackles the issue of masking and explores the possible pitfalls and benefits that may ensue from such a practice. During the time of plantation writing and dialect poetry, white Americans ignored the pain and suffering of African Americans, and instead chose to view all African Americans as jovial and longing for the days of slavery when they were free from responsibility. Because white Americans refused to see African Americans for who they really were and what their experiences were really like, it was as if white Americans were placing a stereotypical mask on African Americans. They were covering up what they did not want to see, and replacing it with a more desirable facade. In many ways this idea of masking is akin to the idea of a double consciousness. The notion of double consciousness suggests that there are two selves battling within each African American. The idea of masking suggests that there are also two identities that African Americans have to portray; one is an internal and tortured identity, while the other is an external facade of happiness. Dunbar was aware of this mask that African Americans were forced to wear, but what he seems to struggle with in "We Wear the Mask" is whether or not this practice of masking is beneficial or detrimental to the plight of African Americans. With the use of repetition in "We Wear the Mask" Dunbar makes the leap from suggesting that masking may cause pain for African Americans to asserting that masking ultimately places African Americans in an odd position of power. In the first stanza, the speaker writes: "We wear the mask that grins and lies /. . .With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, / And mouth with myriad subtleties" (Dunbar 112, 1-5). In this instance, Dunbar suggests that wearing the mask is often painful, as African Americans are forced to smile when they are actually torn up inside. Moreover, masking forces African Americans to speak "with myriad subtleties," implying that African Americans are never allowed to be straightforward and speak exactly what is on their minds. Dunbar's initial stanza makes the expected assumption about masking as he concludes that it is merely a form of deception that covers up the painful truth that African Americas are forced to live with internally. In the second stanza, the speaker becomes a bit more optimistic about masking, and begins to see the benefits that come along with not being seen. The speaker says: Why should the world be over-wise,
In
this stanza, the speaker notes that a certain kind of power is created
when one is not truly being seen by others. Because white Americans
project a fictional stereotype onto African Americans, they are unable
to see the vulnerability and sadness that plagues African Americans.
With this sad truth being covered up, African Americans are given a
certain amount of strength as their true emotions are hidden from the
eyes of the public. African Americans know a secret that white
Americans are blind to, leaving them in a position of greater
knowledge, and thereby in a position to wield more power. Because of
this newfound power in masking, the speaker goes from suggesting that
masking causes pain in first stanza to recommending that African
Americans only let white Americans see their mask, and not their true,
broken up selves, in the second.In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. (6-9) The last stanza of "We Wear the Mask" combines the sentiments of both the first and second stanzas, and ends with the speaker sounding excited and triumphant about his newly found secrets of masking. The stanza opens with "We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries" and concludes with "But let the world dream otherwise, / We wear the mask!" (10, 14-15). In this stanza, the speaker is again acknowledging the pain that arises from hiding torment behind a cloak of happiness, but the speaker's exuberant repetition of "We wear the mask!" suggest that he cannot let go of the power that this situation creates. When one wears a mask, he or she can see, but is unable to be seen truly. This leaves the masked in possession of a greater truth than those around him or her, meaning African Americans are in a better position than white Americans to control and change their surroundings. It becomes evident that the speaker sides with the notion that masking is more beneficial than detrimental when he concludes the poem and final repetition of "We wear the mask!" with an exclamation point. While some may view the mask of the happy African American as racist and harmful, the speaker, and presumably Dunbar, views the mask in a more optimistic light as he recognizes the position of power in which it places African Americans. In "The Deserted Plantation," Dunbar sounds like a different poet; he does not tackle an issue like the masking of African Americans, or empower African Americans in any way, but instead speaks in dialect to mourn the loss of slavery. The poem begins with the speaker, an ex-slave, describing his master's deserted plantation. The speaker depicts the land as dilapidated when he states: "de weeds is growin' green an' rank an' tall" and "de grubbin'-hoe's a-rustin' in de co'nah" (Dunbar 107, 1, 6). Instead of celebrating the end of slavery, the speaker describes the empty plantation in nostalgic terms: "An' de big house stan's all quiet lak an' solemn, / Not a blessed soul in pa'lor, po'ch, er lawn" (9-10). Instead of seeing the plantation's abandonment as a sign that he is now a free man, the speaker describes it as a lonely place, void of human life. The speaker goes on to emphasize the collapsed state of the plantation when he contrasts it with images of the past: "Whah's da da'kies, dem dat used to be a-dancin'.. .Whah's de chillum, dem dat used to be a-prancin'. . .Whah's de gals dat used to sing an' dance de bes'?" (17-24). In stark contrast to the dreary descriptions of the present-day plantation, the speaker paints the image of the past as one full of happy men, women and children, who used to sing and dance all day. This grossly inaccurate description of the dreary present and happy past is one that runs throughout the poem, and emphasizes the speaker's desire to get the days of slavery back. Dunbar's poem becomes even more questionable when the speaker not only mourns the loss of the past, but also condemns other African Americans for not mourning along with him. The speaker states: "Couldn't one o 'dem dat seed it in its glory / Stay to watch it in de hour of decay?" (27-28). Unlike other African Americans, the speaker vows to "watch de deah ole place an' tend it" like he "used to in de happy days gone by" (33-34). The speaker seems to believe that African Americans owe something to the plantation they worked on, and is unable to understand why he is the only one being loyal to the place that, he claims, was so good to them in the past. This historically inaccurate depiction of slavery is hard to get past, which explains why Dunbar is often dismissed as an African American who profited from reinforcing racist stereotypes. Though the message conveyed in "The Deserted Plantation" seems unmistakable, the poem takes on new meaning when it is seen through the lens of "We Wear the Mask." In "We Wear the Mask," the speaker concludes that the false image of the jovial slave places African Americans in a position of strength. If Dunbar sees masking in this light, his dialect poetry contains another layer of depth. Perhaps Dunbar felt that by promulgating the image of the happy slave with his dialect poetry, he was adding to the mask that empowered African Americans. Though Dunbar's dialect poetry seems to support the racist ideology of his time, perhaps he was being a bit more surreptitious than he is given credit for. Dunbar saw dialect poetry not as a way to ignore the suffering of African Americans, but as a way to empower them through the art of masking. While most of Dunbar's poetry is either strictly dialect or socially conscious, Dunbar merges his two styles, and his two voices, in "An Ante-Bellum Sermon." The speaker in this dialect poem tells the story of the Hebrew slaves, but makes it clear that there is a second message embedded within his speech. During his telling of the story, the speaker often changes the tense to the future, letting the reader know that he is not only talking about the Hebrew slaves, but also the slaves in America. The speaker states: "Fu' de Lawd will he'p his chillum, / You kin trust him evah time" and "But de lawd will sen' some Moses / Fu' to set his chillum free" (Dunbar 180-181, 23-24, 31-32). The future tense implies that this is not just a story of the past. The speaker makes it obvious that he believes the story of Moses will repeat itself, and the African slaves will one day be freed too. Not only does he use the future tense, but he also pluralizes "Moses" to suggest that he is not speaking of an historical Moses, but of the many Moses figures that exist to free slaves at all points in time. The speaker makes his double meaning even more obvious when he tries to hide it: "I'm still a-preachin' ancient, /1 ain't; talkin' bout to-day" (39-40). The speaker is simultaneously claiming and disclaiming, because as he is suggesting that he is only talking about the past, he draws attention to the double meaning for those who have missed it. In "An Ante-Bellum Sermon," Dunbar uses his mastery of dialect to speak out against slavery, combining the two voices that characterize his work. "An Ante-Bellum Sermon" ends on an interesting note, when the speaker seems to jump to the political present of Dunbar's time and speak about the freed slaves. The speaker exclaims: "An' we'll shout ouah halleyluyeahs, / On day mighty rech'nin da, / When we'se reco'nised ez citiz—'" (85-87). Up until this point, the speaker has been comfortable speaking against slavery because he cloaked his ideas in an ancient biblical story. Since the speaker cannot couch the issue of citizenship in biblical terms, he has to end his poem and his sermon. With ambiguity gone, the speaker feels unsafe to finish his thought, but hints at it sufficiently, allowing the readers to see the speaker's, and presumably Dunbar's, message about the rights of African Americans. In this poem, Dunbar uses dialect to not only criticize the past, but also to critique the present situation in America. By merging his two voices in "An Ante-Bellum Sermon," Dunbar demonstrates that he is well aware of his two selves, and understands that he is masked even in his poetry. By writing in dialect, Dunbar is appealing to white America's nostalgia for the days of slavery. Dunbar is wearing that mask of the happy slave for those who want to see it. However, Dunbar exposes his true self when he has the speaker confuse tenses, use plurals and pronounce disclaimers. Dunbar understands that he cloaks his true self, which in his case is hidden underneath the mask of dialect poetry, and conveys this understanding by having the speaker mimic what he is actually doing. The speaker wears an obvious mask that he lets fall, revealing his true thoughts about slavery and the rights of African Americans. Just like the speaker in "An Ante-Bellum Sermon," Dunbar removes his mask temporarily in his non-dialect poetry to allow readers to see his true feelings and opinions. When Paul Laurence Dunbar's dialect poems are read in isolation, it is hard to believe that Dunbar cared at all for the rights of African Americans. Poems that long for the days of slavery call into question Dunbar's own notions of racism and rights. However, because of Dunbar's double consciousness, it is unfair to only read his dialect poetry without acknowledging his second voice. Just as Dunbar was a man that could only be understood when his American and his African halves were both recognized, his poetry cannot be understood unless his two poetic voices are acknowledged and reconciled. The meaning of Dunbar's poetry emerges clearly when his two selves are put together to form a whole thought. The reader must become conscious of Dunbar's duality, and thoughtfully merge his two voices, in order to truly see the real and complete poet. Works Cited
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