At the beginning of the semester my conclusions of masking and invisibility were simple in meaning. I saw these terms as resembling a cause-effect relationship among many other factors. My initial perceptions of masking indicated that it was a cover used to conceal the personality in order to disguise or protect oneself from others. I also based my definition on the idea that it can be both a conscious and unconscious process. By this definition, I felt that masking referred to an act in which a person purposely disguises his or her true identity and pretends that he or she is someone else. My perceptions of invisibility were similar to masking in that I believed it to represent the belief that one cannot be seen. This perception also consisted of my understanding that invisibility is an unconscious response to societal or personal masks.
By focusing on several texts throughout the semester, I have been exposed to many instances that implement masking. One conclusion that I came to is that masking is only something that one does to oneself. A specific example of this is from Shakespeare's Othello. The underlying goal of Othello is to examine what is under the surface to determine a person's genuine behavior and personality. Iago puts up a façade around him that makes him seem like an "honest man." The irony about Iago is that the only time that the audience can trust him is during his soliloquies. At all other times, he is continuously putting on a mask when he is in front of the other characters to deceive them from the truth about who he truly is. This example opened my eyes to simple instances of masking and has permitted me to determine that my original conceptions of concealment are still accurate.
The short story, The Robin, represents an example of an author who masks his sexuality. After our class discussion about this piece of literature, I was shocked when I heard what the true meaning of this story was about. It just goes to show that things do not always wash up at the surface and simply appear. Often times it takes time to search and find the hidden meaning, as this story has taught me. This story also resembles a work in which the author conceals his identity throughout the entire work. After reading this work I have maintained my perception that masking must always be looked for and is hidden below the surface of individuals.
My current perceptions of masking have evolved and I have come to discover that through observance of many texts, I feel that nothing good ever comes of masking. In most cases, masking has lead to detrimental actions that do not improve society as a whole. No matter what the outcome of a text or film is, masking is never a positive experience. As discussed above, Othello is an excellent example of a situation in which a character, Iago, masks himself and the outcome turns out to be disastrous. Another instance of negative masking is from the novel, The Spook Who Sat By the Door. This novel delves into the mindset of Freeman who hides behind his mask as a black man living in a majority white society. This quote contributes to Freeman's goal of deceiving the white population and their stereotypical image of black men. "(He) Freeman continued to contribute to his playboy image; pretending to enjoy parties that bored him, dating women he did not like, flattering men he detested, doing and saying and acting things that sickened him (136)." By concealing his true identity from "whitey," his mask does not help improve society even on a broader scale. Based on my current perceptions, I feel that Freeman's disguise symbolizes only a part of my current knowledge of masking. My conclusions from this novel help me to realize that nothing good ever comes from Freeman's masking. He did not improve the way that society functions, nor does his mask resolve any of the conflicts that arise in the novel. Rather, I feel as though his mask weighs down the future of a constructive integrated society.
My initial perceptions of invisibility involved my belief that it is the idea that one cannot be seen. A perfect example of a piece of literature that includes both masking and invisibility is The Invisible Man. This example in itself has many underlying meanings that have structured my beliefs of masking and invisibility.
The Invisible Man has enlightened my interpretation of masking, requiring me to question how one goes about masking. In the literature, the invisible man has a conversation with his grandfather before he dies in which his grandfather tells him to hide his true identity in the future. His options are to either succeed in life by going against the white community; or agree with the white majority by "saying yes," essentially betraying the black community. This piece of masking can be both an unconscious or conscious act in which the invisible man has the option of whether or not to pursue this mask of his heritage and his true identity. In this case, I am inclined to coincide with my original perceptions in that there is always a choice of whether or not to mask yourself or not.
The example, The Invisible Man, is focused on depicting what it means to be invisible. The literature brings up the point that people were unwilling to see him as a human being. The invisible man was a young black boy who was living in a majority white society. People in his "world" only opened their eyes and saw what they wanted to see, and "they refused to see me (20)." This example leads me to accept my original definition of invisibility in that the invisible man is not capable of being seen.
The invisible man's obsession with light leads him to believe that "without light I am not only invisible, but formless as well; and to be unaware of one's form is to live a death (21)." He believes that if he has enough light he will, in turn, become more visible. From this piece of literature, my definition of invisibility has further complicated itself. My basic definition has expanded do to the fact that invisibility can be much more than just not being seen. It can include outside forces such as "light" which enables the meaning to transform into something less concrete.
In our unit on prisons and prisoners I began to understand that the public's understanding of how prisons work and how prisoners are treated is made available through the media. What is not expressed is that the workings of the criminal justice system are made invisible to the public. The public lives their lives believing that the criminal justice system works a certain way because of how it is portrayed in the media. They are never once introduced to the truth of how the system works. The audience then becomes invisible to the realities of what prisons do and how they function. This represents invisibility inflicted on others; adding to my current perceptions of what invisibility means.
The Politics of Science by Paul Monette brings up several issues of invisibility. To begin with, he suggests that remaining in the closet is a way for many gay and lesbians to protect themselves. They use this tactic to escape all of the homophobic and homo-ignorance in the world. These people make themselves invisible by hiding and secluding themselves from the rest of the world. This has affected my current perception of invisibility by allowing myself to build upon my original perceptions of invisibility. I have learned from this text that not only is invisibility a conscious action, but it is also an unconscious behavior.
This semester has been a never-ending learning process in which I have continuously absorbed myself in the depths of what masking and invisibility really mean. I have come to the conclusion that there is no set way in which one can define these terms because our opinions are dynamic, fluid and always changing. This class has helped me to grow and to be further educated, allowing myself to question my beliefs in all topics as they emerge.