Many Masks Exhibit -- "Still I Rise"

Essayist Wendy Donniger’s work entitled “Many Masks, Many Selves” explores the complex nature of our personalities. Through her exploration, Doniger argues that our personality is comprised of a set of ‘masks’ that we don in different contexts; and further states that this is a healthy aspect of our daily life. In one passage, Doniger briefly mentions masks one does not choose to wear: “Involuntary masks are also imposed by race and gender” (Doniger, 69). In this brief acknowledgment of masks imposed by society, Doniger does a great disservice to all those who have overcome the involuntary masks society has forced onto so many faces. In her poem Still I Rise, the great poet Maya Angelou writes, “You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise”. “Write me down” is an active expression that implies activeness on the target of this poem and passivity on Angelou’s part. “Write me down...with your bitter, twisted lies” implies a forcing of some untruth onto Angelou (and, through implication, fellow black Americans) – the equivalent of forcing a mask onto an unwilling person. However, the tone changes when Angelou continues, “But still, like dust, I’ll rise”. Angelou’s use of the word ‘rise’ implies an activeness on her part – she does not wish to lay down and accept the imposition of masks. Angelou’s poem provides a provocative example of Doniger’s ignorance to those who have overcome the imposition of masks – those that, like Angelou, continue to rise.