White Lies by Natasha TretheweyEssay Preview: White Lies by Natasha TretheweyReport this essayIn the poem “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey, a little girl has trouble accepting her racial identity. Her father is white, and her mother is black, but the underlying problem is presented through societys racist views on black people in the south during this time. The girl’s desire to fit in with the few white people is stemmed from her perception of social class in relation to ones race. The author uses imagery in the stanzas that state “The lies I could tell, when I was growing up, light-bright, near-white, high-yellow, red-boned, in a black place” (4) to show the lightness of her skin. The poem’s name is “White Lies”, this is ironic because the girl is not only telling harmless or “white lies” but she is also lying about being fully white.
This poem may be describing the authors struggles as a young girl in accepting who she is. To fully grasp the meaning of the poem, it is important to understand Trethewey’s upbringing. Trethewey was born in Mississippi in 1966 to a black mother and a white father. At the time, interracial marriage was illegal in Mississippi and was viewed with a great deal of shame by the “race-sensitive” society. Based off these facts, a reasonable inference can be made that the speaker in the poem is indeed Trethewey. The taboo of an interracial marriage at the time only reinforced the unfortunate stigma that Tretheway felt as a half-black half-white girl living in the South.
The poet uses a southern dialect which allows the reader to learn even more about the location and time of when the poem was intended to take place. The typical southern slang used in the poem further leads us to conclude her insecurities may have been heightened due to her location in the south and their increased hate towards black people. The poem is in an informal dictation allowing us to see this innocence in the girl as she is young and knows no better. Both of these elements play a huge role in the structure and our understanding of the poem as they give us insight as to why the girl feels the need to tell lies in order to fit in. “White Lies” uses color imagery to paint a picture of racism and moral dilemmas in the South in the later part of the twentieth century. Rhythm and meter do not play big roles in this poem, it is more focused on experiences in the poet’s life along with generalizations about a time and setting in history.
This poem has a mixture of themes that are used to portray the point of the girls troubles in accepting her racial identity. The speaker in this story uses small lies to change how people view her throughout the story. In the second stanza, she speaks about all the little lies she could get away with about where she lived. She lived in a “shanty-fied shotgun section/along the tracts” (10), but what she tells people is she lived in an upper-class community instead of her less fortunate neighborhood. She pretends to wear expensive clothing when in reality, they are all homemade. Therefore, when people assume she is white the speaker chooses to go along with it. These themes are used to show the girls views on color and social status, she feels that if she tells people the truth about who she is and where she comes from then they will automatically judge her
The poem is also written with an African American voice, and the black character is a black man.
This poem portrays the problem that black people face to determine the “status” of the minority group. It also gives an overview of the Black community’s political, economic, social, and cultural differences, using the lyrics as a guide. In an effort to give more depth to each part of each story there are 3 stanzas (rough and full). This is the first stanza which describes the  problem with the African-American and also is part of the song of the same name.
2. “Dancing in the Dark”
This is the second stanzage of the poem. It explains that the lyrics are about the way black people “live in a state of confusion” when they are forced to choose between her being white and the fact that they do not belong. In an attempt to make the song more relevant to the story she begins with a little poem. This is a brief introduction to the story and how the poet interprets it. One line is about how blackness was “a black life” where it was “a time of darkness, when whiteness in people’s lives were blurred” in a state of chaos.
This is the last stanza which explains the meaning of blackness by the song of the same name.
This next line, tells the story about a black girl who had always dreamed of becoming a singer and now lives with her brother.
The lyrics are all written from the point of view of a black girl who was always in a state of confusion before she became a singer. When the girls are being asked which way white people live in a state of chaos, they are told that in order for them to be “gifted”. This interpretation of “gifting” is what they are told when the lyrics are used in the song.
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This next line tells the story about a black girl who had been in a state of confusion before she became a singer, and is now happily married. This interpretation of the “gift” is what they are told when the lyrics are spoken.
While this is a story about black girls making love to white people, the song itself is in a state of chaos.