In 1917-1938, the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing. In a small neighborhood of New York called Harlem, black people were beginning to gain social, cultural and artistic freedom. Black poets, writers, musicians, and scholars flocked to Harlem in search of such new freedom, but many poets wrote about the difficulties they faced due to racism to help them express their feelings against racism. 'oppression. In "We Wear the Mask" and "Sympathy", Paul Laurence Dunbar depicts the harmful effects of racism through the use of symbolism, violent imagery, and dark mood to develop the theme that oppression by society creates a desire for freedom among minorities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Dunbar uses symbolism to explain that oppression by society causes a desire for freedom. At the time these poems were written, black people were still being treated poorly by white people and were looking for a way to end the oppression. In his poem “Sympathy,” Dunbar writes, “I know what the caged bird feels” (ll. 1, 7). He uses the caged bird to symbolize the oppressed black minority. A bird, by nature, wants to be free and in its natural habitat it can go wherever it wants. However, a caged bird cannot go far; he is limited to where he can go. In the period of history that Dunbar describes, black people were also limited in where they could and could not go. Black people were not allowed to mix with white people. They were forced to keep their distance in separate facilities such as toilets and water fountains. While white people could do whatever they wanted, like birds in their natural habitat, black people were segregated, like birds in a cage. This restriction that black people faced caused them to desire to be equal and free like white people. In “We Wear the Mask,” Dunbar writes that “we wear the mask that smiles and lies” (l. 1). Dunbar uses the mask to symbolize the hidden feelings felt by the black majority as a whole. By saying that “we wear the mask” (Dunbar l. 1), he explains that not only he or a privileged few feel the effects of oppression; it’s the entire black community. The mask that the black community wore was a facade to hide pain and suffering. By reflecting the feelings of free and unrestricted white people, they created an illusion of freedom. In “Mask: Hypocrite Bared in South House,” Erin Perkins echoes the symbolism of “We Wear the Mask.” Perkins writes that "their 'masks' are intended to conceal their faulty behaviors and backgrounds for the benefit of those who watch them" (Perkins 1). The mask provides a false sense of freedom to provide a sense of comfort to the white community. This allows white people to not recognize the oppression that black people face. With the illusion of freedom in place, white people can ignore the problems of racism. Since they do not see the suffering of the black community, they do not feel compelled to bring about change in society, thus proving that a false sense of freedom allows oppression to continue. Next, Dunbar uses violent imagery to explain that oppression by society causes a desire for freedom. Through artistic expression, black people fought for freedom by writing about freedom until the subject was exhausted. In “Sympathy,” Dunbar writes: “I know why the caged bird flaps its wing / untillet his blood be red on the cruel bars” (ll. 8-9). He sympathizes with the caged bird. The bird is so desperate to escape from its cage that it is willing to attempt escape until it is exhausted and injured. Much like the bird, black people in the Harlem Renaissance were desperate to escape the restrictions caused by racism. Desperation and desire for freedom lead to many protests and other forms of resistance to achieve artistic freedom. These attempts helped convey the desire to achieve freedom. Another example occurs when Dunbar writes that "the bird's wing is bruised and sore at the breast, - / when he beats his bars and he will be free" (ll. 16-17). The bird fights his cage to the point of exhaustion to show how much he wants freedom; if the bird didn't really want freedom, it wouldn't hurt itself and exhaust itself trying to get it. Eleanor Alexander, a writer for New York University Press, remembers memorizing Dunbar's poems as a child; the black community considered him their hero. She agrees that violent imagery plays a role in the desire for freedom, and in this vein, she explains that the flapping bird "is a dark parable of white oppression and battered black identity" ( Alexander 2). She further explains that the story of the bird desperately struggling to break free from its cage is a clear representation of black people struggling to gain their freedom in a world where they are oppressed by white people. Finally, Dunbar uses a dark tone to express that oppression in society creates a desire for freedom. Dunbar transports the reader into the shoes of a black American during the Harlem Renaissance to further explain the desire for freedom. For example, Dunbar writes, “We smile with torn and bleeding hearts” (l. 4). He expresses the effects of racism through “torn and bleeding hearts” (Dubar l. 4). After many years of racism through segregation and slavery, the black community as a whole is in disrepair. They do not have the motivation to continue fighting for freedom. Pessimism has taken over the mentality of the black community, so African Americans put on smiles as a facade to hide the fact that they are torn and bleeding. And this pessimism felt by the black community carries over to the reader. The black community uses false freedom to mask the uncertainty of its true freedom. Black people want freedom so badly, even though false freedom under racism is better than no freedom at all. Dunbar also writes: “When he beats his bars and he could be free; / It is not a song of joy or gladness, / But a prayer that he sends from the depths of his heart” (ll. 17-18). Dunbar explains that the caged bird sings not out of joy at being stuck in a cage, but in a prayer to heaven to be freed from the cage. The bird is desperate to escape from its confinement cage and is willing to pray as a last ditch effort. The bird believes that after all the effort it has put into trying to escape, a higher power must take control. As a last effort, the bird begs for help from the higher power. Indeed, blacks of the time were beginning to face the same dilemma. The dark last effort of prayers resonated throughout black life during the Harlem Renaissance. Poems were written to express the feelings of black Americans; they expressed the difficulties that oppression had brought. Black poets believed that if white people could understand that the black community desperately wanted to end the emotional pain of oppression, freedom could finally be achieved.. 2016.