We Wear Masks
Analysis of "We Wear the Mask" In one of Paul Lawrence Dunbars most famous poems "We Wear the Mask," he describes the harsh reality of the black race in America and how they hide their grief, sadness, and broken hearts under a mask for a survival strategy towards whites. "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. ... The masks when worn is always smiling but underneath are the torn and broken heart of ones soul and "this debt we pay to human guile. ... Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask.