Imagery and Meaning in Natasha Trethewey’s “White Lies”

I find Natasha Trethewey’s “White Lies” to be a very interesting poem because it represents what I believe to be the most important parts of literature. I believe rhyme scheme and meter make a poem catchy, however I am not a fan of rigid poetic forms as I view them to be adding no more than a challenge to the written word. However I found “White Lies” to deal with what I enjoy in literature; it deals with personal experiences in the poet’s life along with generalizations about a time period and setting in history, and it uses literary techniques to help its readers feel the message Trethewey is trying to communicate. “White Lies” uses vivid color imagery to paint a picture of racism and moral dilemmas in the South in the later part of the twentieth century as demonstrated though Trethewey’s personal experience.

The first thing that grabbed my attention when reading “White Lies” was the imagery created through the use of colors: “light-bright, near-white, high-yellow, red-boned,” “black place,” “that pink and green shanty-fied shotgun section along the tracks,” “Ivory soap,” even the “Maison Blanche,” which translates to “White House,” and of course, “White Lies.” While the use of these many colors creates an enjoyable reading experience, they also serve a deeper purpose. At this point, it may be of use to note that Threthewey was a child of both African American and Canadian decent whose skin was light enough to “pass for white.” “[L]ight-bright, near-while, high-yellow, red-boned” not only describe Trethewey’s off-white lies, but even she herself, an almost white girl living in a “black place,” or the black part of town. Whiteness seems to have a connection with purity in this poem. The white lifestyle the speaker desires can be considered a false purity since this white society is not pure and it is not really the society the speaker is a part of, whereas the “Ivory soap,” used by her mama “to purify… / and cleanse your lying tongue,” represents the true purity of honesty.

The major question that came to mind after I had read this poem was simply, “What white lies?” Some of these white lies are made obvious just by reading the poem, such as the speaker’s lying about her homemade dresses. The issue of the speaker’s skin color is hinted to by some of her white lies, but not fully explained until one knows the fact that Trethewey was a very light-skinned African American, at which point we come to understand these white lies in their entirety. The speaker is not completely lying in saying that she is white, since Trethewey’s father was white. However she is telling a white lie in that she is hiding her black side. By understanding even more of Trethewey’s history, we can see yet another level of white lies. On her birth certificate, her mother’s race was labeled as “colored,” however her father’s was labeled as “Canadian” instead of “white,” since interracial marriages in Mississippi in the mid-sixties were still illegal. Therefore, another white lie in Trethewey’s past takes place in this short anecdote about her parents. Her father was not lying in saying that he was Canadian, however he was not providing a valid answer either.

Finally, we must consider how Trethewey’s personal experience and her poem reflect the time and place she lived in. As a black child light enough to “pass for white” in Mississippi it must have been very tempting to lie about one’s racial heritage if it meant escape from the racism and hatred directed toward the black community. Also, it must have been terrifying to be half black and half white in a highly racist society for fear of alienation by both sides, a fate that would leave one truly alone. While on the one hand “White Lies” is a very enjoyable read, on the other hand it raises some deep moral questions and records a history not to be forgotten. (672)