"The Liar" is about identity and the separation of the self from the body. Like many Baraka poems, it is written in prose that feels fragmented or abstract—the meaning isn't immediately clear or easy to come by. Interpretations are left ambiguous and contextual clues are often opaque. It is helpful to remember when reading a Baraka poem, therefore, that what is most important is the feeling you get from reading the poem. What kind of feelings is the poem trying to evoke in you? Are you uncomfortable or uneasy? Why would Baraka try to make you feel that way? That way, it can be easy to think about the overall message of the poem without getting tripped up trying to nail down particular details.
In "The Liar," the speaker of the poem experiences some kind of change where his emotional response to certain outside stimuli suddenly and drastically changes. He feels alienated from his body to such an extent that he is left unsure about who he really is. The poem begins with the speaker's discovery that his emotional response to certain parts of his life has changed: "What I thought was love / in me, I find a thousand instances / as fear" (1-3). These first few lines are in the present tense, suggesting that the speaker is discovering his new emotional state as he is relaying the poem to the reader.
This poem, like "An Agony. As Now," grapples with questions of the relationship between the body and the soul. In "The Liar," the speaker sees the soul as closely related to the body, perhaps haunting it: "Where ever I go to claim / my flesh, there are entrances / of spirit" (7-9). The relationship between the body and the spirit will be discussed at length in the "Analysis" section of this guide. It is crucial to keep in mind, however, that the motifs of the soul and the body center around the question of personhood—Baraka asks in "The Liar" whether it is his body (in other words, his outward appearance) that defines him or whether it is his soul (which would be independent of the body). By coming to the conclusion that the spirit and the body are essentially inseparable, the speaker of the poem is left without a complete knowledge of self and a bond between the soul and the body that he cannot fully understand: "And even its comforts / are hideous uses I strain / to understand" (9-11).
The poem ends on an eerie and uncertain note: "When they say, 'It is Roi / who is dead." I wonder / who will they mean?" (lines 26-8). This final stanza is in the future tense, predicting the end of a metamorphosis that is not yet complete. In this case, "Roi" is a reference to Baraka's own name (at the time of writing), LeRoi Jones. Thus, a few poignant questions arise: by placing his own name into "The Liar," is Baraka predicting his own death? Or, is he predicting the death of his current persona? Is he unsure of who he even is at all? This poem opens up many questions on the meaning of self and what it means to feel like a foreigner in one's own body.
