Paul Lawrence Dunbar We Wear The Mask Essay

In one of Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s most famous poem’s “We Wear the Mask,” he describes the harsh reality of the black race and community in America and how they hide their struggles, grief, sadness, and broken hearts under a mask “metaphorical” for a survival strategy towards white people during this time. “We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, with torn and bleeding hearts we smile, and mouth with myriad subtleties.” (Dunbar) In the first verse, the mask is taken off. The “We” in the poem describes the black community that lives a daily double life, the masked and the unmasked. The opening stanza of the poem indicates that the African American group represented by the speaker

The masks when worn is always smiling but underneath are the torn and broken heart of one’s soul and “this debt we pay to human guile.” The debt that the black community is paying dearly by wearing the mask every day for the white race with “myriad subtleties”, (Dunbar) the black race that wants to speak out and be heard from everyone. In the second stanza, the idea that the main speaker is representing a particular segment of society becomes clearer when the poem indicates that “the world” need not to be aware of the true feelings from the ones who suffers. Indeed, the speaker describes and suggests that the world should only be allowed to “see us, while We wear the mask.” (Dunbar) This suggests something beyond merely dissembling for the sake of duplicity or dishonesty. In the last stanza, Dunbar says that even though they may be smiling on the outside, Jesus Christ knows the truth. Christ is able to hear the cries from their tortured souls. He is able to see through the mask. In line 12-13 it says, “We sing, but oh the clay is vile beneath our feet, and long the mile.” (Dunbar) When the slaves worked in the fields they would usually sing songs to past the time and raise