I am choosing to write about pair B. These two images are very interesting to me because both characters depicted are wearing a type of mask. The picture of Madame shows that she is wearing sunglasses and makeup. These act as her own type of mask. The boy is holding a mask up to his face. Both characters are hiding themselves in some way. I find it curious though, that Madame is most concerned with hiding her eyes while the boy’s mask has holes for the eyes, thus making the eyes the only way to view what is underneath. Because eyes are often considered a gateway into a person, it can be interpreted that Madame is trying to hide her true self, while the boy is trying to focus attention on the eyes, perhaps to cause a sense of guilt in Monsieur. This also illustrates how Madame is guilty of poor treatment of Diouana and must thus try to hide her eyes which might reveal her guilt. The boy, on the other hand, has done nothing wrong and may wear the mask that allows access to his eyes, clear of conscious.
The background of each image is also telling of the situation. Behind Madame is a clear scene devoid of hardly any interesting features. It is a cold, hard wall behind her. Behind the boy, however, is an open scene of the village. This is a scene that is alive with people, which makes it more warm than the stark wall behind Madame. This contrast shows that the boy is alive with a rich history and life while Madame lives in a more superficial, deadened world. The fence behind the boy also shows the repression of his people and their history of enslavement.
Good stuff, Amber. I think you might look at these two forms of mask even a bit more literally. The sunglasses conceal, as you note, but they're also stylish, right? Manufactured, of Madame's culture, sure, but not hand-crafted as the mask is. So we might look a these two items as representations of the characters' respective cultures, and the values of these cultures, as well as the characters' relationship to the making of artifacts central to each culture. What does it mean that the mask is "the real thing?" Is this the same as the sunglasses being "the real thing?"
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