Bronx Perspectives: take 1

In Bronx Masquerade, the reader is shown how other people can have multiple sides to their personality. I think this is why Nikki Grimes put “masquerade” in the books name. Due to the multiple perspectives in the book (one from each character), we can see how each character is seen by other characters and how they want to be seen by others.

We can see this especially through Tyrone, as the story goes on we see Tyrone learn more about his classmates through their poems, information that he didn’t know by just observing them. Every student seems to show their insecurities, most feel like they don’t belong, each for different reasons.

One of those students would be Diondra Jordan. She’d judges based on her appearance. She’s 6 feet tall, most of her classmates assume that she’s a good basketball player. Due to that, almost all of her classmates don’t know that her true passion lies in art. Even her father’s view of her future contrasts with her own dreams, he wants her to play basketball and join the WNBA.

Similarly to Diondra, Devon’s real personality greatly contrasts with what his classmates think of him. Others only see that he’s good at basketball, but Devon doesn’t want to be recognized solely for his prowess in basketball. His poem, “Bronx Masquerade” serves as both the title to the book, and as a method for him to showcase his struggles with his other classmates and their views of him. This shows the reader how much their views contrast with Devon’s.

Outside of Devon and Diondra, many (like 10+) other students display similar struggles through their poems to their classmates. Bronx Masquerade shows how people’s personalities can be deeper than you first perceive.