In the course of a person's life, one often finds it convenient to present a false persona than explain emotions or opinions in trying social circumstances. In literature, such as Black Like Me and Their Eyes Were Watching God, this facet of human interaction is often captured in the metaphor of masks. Dunbar's poem "We Wear the Mask" elucidates the psyche of the world's population, effectively summarizing the external transformations used to conceal one's inner self. The donning of a mask is used by characters throughout both these novels in order to allow them to deceive, catechize, and pacify.
             John Howard Griffin details how people of different races often act differently around one another. In the December 1st entry, Griffin marvelously portrays this hypocrisy. After an incident between whites and blacks on a bus nearly escalates to fighting, a white man claims to the black man, after the trouble, that "before he slapped you, he'd have had to slap me down first." (Griffin 129). The white man would not, however, dare speak those worlds if other whites were around. He acts as though he would fight for the black man, but he would not even speak up for him. The blacks all found it ridiculous and "none of [them] smiled"(Griffin 129), and when the white man says, "I was on your side, boy" (Griffin 129) they know just how sincere this man truly is. It is as though the white man is trying to make amends for the hardships the blacks go through, but not noticing his own racism.
             Another exquisite example of "two-facedism" comes from Griffin's book and is performed face-to-face with Griffin. As Griffin goes through his travels, he often receives rides from white people to shorten the length of his journey. On this occasion, noted in the book to not be the first time, Griffin is repeated questioned about his sexual life. The white man even goes as far as to ask to see Griffin naked, Griffin sits appalled an...