Question

How are the themes of “We Wear the Mask” and "A Man Said to the Universe" similar?
Responses

Both state that large, powerful forces such as society are illusions.
Both state that large, powerful forces such as society are illusions.

Both show how humans can be helpless in the face of external forces.
Both show how humans can be helpless in the face of external forces.

Both demonstrate why people must hide their suffering in order to survive.
Both demonstrate why people must hide their suffering in order to survive.

Both illustrate the environment’s indifference to humankind.

Answer 1

Both show how humans can be helpless in the face of external forces.

Explanation: In Dunbar’s "We Wear the Mask," the speaker says people must hide their pain behind a mask because social pressures and racial oppression force that concealment — a kind of powerlessness before society. In Crane’s "A Man Said to the Universe," the man’s assertion is met by the universe’s indifferent reply, showing human impotence before an uncaring cosmos. Both poems therefore portray individuals constrained or overwhelmed by forces beyond their control.