White Lies by Natasha Trethewey, Essay Example

Was it really “The lies”?

In order to fully understand the meaning of the poem “White Lies” it is essential to know about its author’s, Natasha Trethewey’s upbringing as a child. She was born in 1966 in Mississippi to a white father and a black mother. At that time interracial marriages were considered illegal in the state. Society was indeed very race sensitive. The poem “White Lies” of Natasha Trethewey is about a young girl who struggles to acknowledge her own true identity as being half-black and half-white. She lives her daily life as a white ordinary girl.

The appearance of various key colors in the poem allows having a vivid imagery and seeing significant messages through the text. The colors themselves paint a portrait the girl as being untrue and fake to herself. Moreover, they represent the self betrayal towards the heritage. Based on the background facts it is assumed that the narrator of the poem is Natasha herself. And it was her who had trouble being a half black and half-white young girl who was living in the South.

There are a lot of colors and imagery in this poem. The first stanza brings the attention to the “near white, high yellow” tones which are very light colors and seem to be pure. The description allows to think that probably these colors are the representations of skin tones of those people who have racially superior genes. Back when Natasha Trethewey was a child the skin color, unfortunately, mattered and was either accepted or not by the society and people. If at those times lying about your real skin color was a way to gain privilege and status, then a tiny white lie might not even make a difference. It won’t even be noticed, would it?

Second stanza of the poem shows that the speaker has a strong desire to become an accepted part of the white society through lies. The girl’s first lie is that she can tell the white people that she and her family are living uptown. This statement would allow her to seem to be a normal white girl and have no problems. The young girl is able and willing to hide her own social and economic position and trick society about her identity.

One lie generates another one. A young girl is thinking about telling others that the dresses that she has are coming from “window of Maison Blanche”. The dress that the girl has shows a good quality craftsmanship, therefore, this lie will not be revealed as well. People will easily believe that the dress came out from an expensive shop.

The worst lie comes when the young girl is being silent in class when a white girl counts her to be one of equals. The girl says that now there are three of them in class, meaning three white girls. And the narrator of the poem is being quiet in front of this girl because she wants to be considered white. The young girls refused to speak up in class and she honestly sacrifices her own true identity. She trades her real self to a fake image.

The young girl made her black half be silent inside of her. This passage allows thinking that the writer indeed is describing herself. Natasha Trethewey was an interracial child. However, her skin color could really allow others to think that she was a normal white girl. Every lie that she makes up is slowly moving her away from the black background and she is willingly doing so.

In the final stanza the girls makes a sadder thing about getting rid of her real self and about abandoning her roots. When caught lying by her mother about her skin color and her race, she is being punished. Her mother decided to wash her daughter’s mouth with the bar of “Ivory soap” in order to clean it off. This act leads a child to swallowing peaces because she is hoping that the soap works from the inside out. At this moment it is obvious that the speaker is losing any part of her identity that she still had inside. The girl is willingly embracing her white self and letting go of the black half. By these small lies and acts the girl shows that she has a strong commitment to becoming what she wants. She has a goal and she is blindly walking towards it.

It is a little sad that the girl does not yet understand that the unique contrasting colors of being half white and half black, can allow her to have a sense of balance in her distinctive identity. It is also sad that the desire to fit in and become a part of a white society is so powerful and overwhelming that the girl is able to say any lie to get into the cycle.  “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey is a heartbreaking poem about what it is like to fight over one’s own color in order to find acceptance. It is a personal poem written about author’s childhood.

“White Lies” is indeed a very sad poem about loneliness and yearning. People who lived in those times were going through a lot of racial differences and discriminations. It is today that people are equal and the skin color is not important. But Natasha Trethewey was caught in a life where some of her friends only accepted her because she was living a lie. Her mother on a contrary is not willing to accept the girl for who she pretends to be. Even though the title of the poem allows thinking that it is indeed devoted to lies, in really it is not. It is about a fight. A self fight for acceptance.