We Wear the Mask

“The world” (Line 6) is mentioned throughout the poem, symbolizing society in its critique. Like the ambiguous speakers, “the world” is also a somewhat ambiguous term for those to whom it refers. Knowing who Dunbar is and his place in history, we can infer “the world” refers to society as a whole, specifically a racist white society responsible for the suffering the speakers face. “The world” (Line 6) also symbolizes the state of the world as a whole, and puts the responsibility onto that world, but this world is unwise and in a dream, ignorant and asleep, unaware of its responsibility.

Throughout the poem, the body is described as separate from the mask, as if they are unconnected pieces joined together through blood and tears. The dismemberment motif symbolizes the many identities the speakers carry. The body is consistently described through suffering or violence with “bleeding hearts” and “tears and sighs,” while the mask maintains its double-crossing smile on the surface. The speakers’ feet seem bare, as if they have no protection against the bespattered terrain. In fact, moments where the body physically appears in the poem reveal the most about the speaker’s true identity.

At the forefront of the body motif in the poem is the fact that African Americans bore the weight of a racist world physically and emotionally, through displaced and stolen bodies, deemed assets while simultaneously devalued as human beings.