“We Wear the Mask,” written by Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1896, is a cleverly written poem about the mask we wear every day to hide our true selves from not just the people in our lives, but also the people in our society.

When I read this poem, I was able to connect with what the author was trying to convey, and I knew he had to have worn the mask, just like the rest of us. Looking at “We Wear the Mask,” I found several lines intriguing, and it was an eye-opener as to the lengths to which people will go to hide from others. Dunbar knew to reveal his true self was to open himself up to the judgment and ridicule of others.

Humans, sometimes against their beliefs and/or values, don a mask of a somewhat different person every day. Either they are tired of getting hurt or do not want people to know the true them. People, unfortunately, are greedy, spiteful and envious of others and what others have. This “mask” is a form of protection against the greed, spite, and envy of others. Dunbar pretty much says this in his first five lines of his poem:

“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.”

In those five lines, I see some things that were disturbing. Not in the sense that Dunbar or what he was trying to say was disturbing, but that I knew what he meant and was shocked to realize I myself had worn that same mask. Though I thought I had grown to the point where I could take the mask off and be myself, I was very much wrong. Dunbar knew this, too. We hate behaving in this manner, having to hide our true selves as it goes against our true natures, always having to act a certain way or say and believe in certain values, mannerisms and/or cultural ideas. It is the mask of naivety and gullibility at times as we are taken for a fool or worse if we express our true thoughts. We must always say and do what those who want us to wear that mask want or think. I got that just from the fifth line in the first stanza, “And mouth with myriad subtleties.” Just say what they want and they will leave you alone.

Something else that drew my interest was the second stanza,

“Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.”

This is a very important piece of the poem. Dunbar is saying that the world does not care about our issues, or that the world wants to even see us upset, scared, tired, hungry or living in poverty, whatever the case may be when we put our mask on. The world cares not for our troubles, our tears, or sighs of frustration when things go wrong. The world only wants to see you while you have your mask on, not when you are just being you. So, only let them see you with the mask on, that way, you cannot be really seen. This leads to human connection problems as we are too busy hiding to show ourselves and gain the true bonds of human fellowship. Smartphones and computers taking over the personal lives of people with no real human connection involved because that’s how society is cramming the mask on people’s faces these days. This leads me to the third stanza, where Dunbar’s message really hits home.

We long to be free from the mask. We really don’t want to wear it, but having been forced to wear it for so long, we really don’t know any other way to present ourselves to others and society. Perhaps our systems would go into the shock of being real. I feel like Pinocchio. Or so it seems. I feel this in Dunbar’s third stanza,

“We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but of the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!”

We long to be free from the torturous life of having to wear the mask of guile and subtleties, of acting against our natures by being made to believe certain things (674). Though we travel the road of “bullshit,” we wear that mask with a smile. I use the term “bullshit” in the context that most of what we are bullied into believing, saying, or doing is complete crud and does not bode well for the mask-wearer. Essentially, we trick ourselves into believing the “bullshit” is of value when it really isn’t. People who could be of importance to us get ignored for their looks or their monetary worth, while people of little to no importance are given a significant role in our lives. We are being molded into what “they” want. Dunbar alludes to this in line three in his third stanza, “We sing, but oh the clay is vile.” Society, based on certain sets of norms, try to conform us to the mask-life. We hate it. It drives us nuts.

We cry out to be free. “We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries, To thee from tortured souls arise.” We are praying to a higher power to come and rescue us from this double life when we should realize it is within our own power to change this ourselves. Though some know that they wear the mask because to not to is to open themselves up for inspection and ridicule, they wear the mask with a smile, because they know they can be themselves alone or with those select few people who are truly significant to them and of extreme importance in their lives. There are those who refuse to wear the mask and shine more brightly for it. They see through all the “bullshit” and refuse to conform to the norms of society. Dunbar knew this because this poem alludes to him having to do so. He knew he could not be who he truly was. People would not have been happy about whatever about himself he was trying to hide. It caused some serious depression issues later in his short life. Coupled with a divorce, it was too much for him. Imagine a world where we could truly be ourselves. Oh what a place that would be.

This is all especially true today as we muddle through elections and try to sort out who would best run our country. Unfortunately, it seems that all politicians can do is lie and deceive us into thinking we are safe, and they have nothing but our best interests at heart. This is not true. They have their own interests at heart. Do not think otherwise. These are the 1% that feed off of the rest of us. Dunbar knew how things worked and that is why he chose not to wear his mask. Even social media is a mask. You can be whomever you want and people are none the wiser. Well, I for one will not wear the mask. I refuse. I am who I am and I speak my mind. We walk around living with masks on when what we as a whole need is to just take the masks off and really get to know each other. Just a thought.