The Mask

We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask! 

-Paul Laurence Dunbar

“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar explores the existence of the many people who survive every waking moment of life by hiding behind the facade of normalcy. It isn’t merely about the simple peer pressure to “fit in” but instead a deeper and more meaningful look at how too many of us hide our feelings and true self behind “the mask”. 

Inside the first stanza Dunbar introduces the symbol of the mask, a physical barrier between the face of the wearer and the world beyond. The mask is a farce, presenting an image to the world that is far from the truth. The notion that it “grins and lies” presents the idea that grinning itself is an act of deceit, that the user of the mask isn’t truly doing anything of the sort. Thus whoever wears the mask is showing not what they feel but what they wish the world to believe they feel. The second line presents another separation from the world, this time not emotionally but physically, as the mask-wear has their face hidden from sight. Referenced in the next line is the belief that wearing the mask is a tribute to the natural trickery of human society, the one who wears the mask is just paying homage to a long held tradition of dishonesty and imitation. Ending the stanza is a more emotional look into the life of the one who wears the mask, a person who has experienced loss and misery which has forced them to live behind the shroud of obscurity. The wearers are no strangers to despair, they live with it silently every day.

Dunbar offers a slightly different perspective of those who wear the mask within the second stanza. The first two lines of this stanza form a rhetorical question in which Dunbar asks if society should change it’s opinions of anyone who shows emotions and inner turmoil. By saying “counting”, Dunbar expresses his belief that people are constantly watching and take special care to notice any moment that a person forgets to disguise their true feelings. The question is answered in a way, by saying no and once again speaking of the mask. Instead of letting the world count “our tears and sighs” Dunbar suggests using the mask and only allowing anyone to see the powerful emotions or deep feelings that lay underneath the fake grin of the mask.

The third and last stanza of the poem looks straight into the heart of the matter, a truly emotional look into the workings of those who must fight to hide all of their feelings. The first line is nothing short of pure despair, emphasized by the plea to religion that sits within the line. This despair is further punctuated in the final stanza’s second line by describing their cries as emanating from the bodies’ of those who have suffered for far too long. The next two lines outline the trap that the mask wearers have found themselves in, unable to remove their barriers but stuck in an untenable situation. They are stuck in “clay” with no way out for miles; more or less they can find no escape from their current predicament. Finally the poem concludes, not with happiness or change, everything remains as it was when the poem begins. Dunbar expresses the need to deceive the world and wraps the poem up with a line that vaguely resembles a chant, “We wear the mask!”. Instead of the situation being resolved or becoming more bearable Dunbar merely urges the mask-wearers to stay resilient and continue to smile through their tears. It might seem an unfair world, but from the eyes behind the mask this is seems to be the best course, possibly the only course, of action.