Secondly, Dunbar uses a hyperbole to make the poem about torture and indecision. The main imagery in the firsts line says “we wear the masks that grins and lies” it suggests that feelings are involved and like mentioned before that those feelings are hidden. The tone here is mysterious, like a villain wearing his mask hiding more than just his face… feelings possibly or something else not just the identity of himself.
![we wear the mask analysis we wear the mask analysis](https://static2.mbtfiles.co.uk/media/docs/newdocs/gcse/religious_studies_philosophy_and_ethics/themes_and_issues/prejudice_and_discrimination/107361/images/preview/img_218_1.jpg)
![we wear the mask analysis we wear the mask analysis](https://s2.studylib.net/store/data/015253994_1-bd045e5603aa36c924075cdc416fe838-300x300.png)
The secondary imagery “it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes” gives you the picture of a person wearing a mask without really saying it. In the first stanza, the poem reads “we wear the mask that grins and lies/ it hide our cheeks and shades ours eyes” the lines are both examples of imagery. To begin, Dunbar uses imagery to create a suspicious and creepy mood in the poem. In the poem “We wear the mask “by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poet uses imagery, hyperboles and metaphors to create the theme that judgment can cause people “us” to hide or be fake.
![we wear the mask analysis we wear the mask analysis](https://images.rapgenius.com/232407a4d581e81cc348d182dd6ff023.258x320x1.jpg)
It’s a cruel part of life that no one really likes, we fear judgment, of not being accepted by others but maybe there could be a solution…maybe we can just put on a mask. What you do, how you look, and feel makes it easy to pass judgment. In this world we are limited to what we are able to do, for example: living forever and or buying everything in the world because those things are not real and naive which is why people usually don’t really think they can do that! There are other more realistic examples though: like when you see a person always wearing one piece of clothing or similar clothing you could say that person is homeless or if that clothing is similar like booty shorts and half tops you say that person is a hoar! Most people not want to do whatever in fear of being judged by others.