This pandemic is twisting us all into ethical knots, one of the knottiest of which is whether and when to wear a face mask. Masks have come to symbolize the partisan divide in this sick society of ours.

Freelance journalist Edgar Allen Beem lives in Brunswick. The Universal Notebook is his personal, weekly look at the world around him.

One day last week, I stood in line at Home Depot in Topsham. The majority of the customers were wearing masks as instructed. The next day, I stood in line at the Walmart in Oxford. The majority of the customers were not wearing masks. The two Maines?

In both cases, I found myself wondering whether those without masks were Trump supporters, pandemic deniers, macho men, ignorant fools or just unenlightened individuals. My tendency is to rub people’s faces in their antisocial behaviors, but there was a gentleman at Home Depot, not an employee, who took a much more tactful approach to pointing out to the unmasked that they were out of line. He simply offered free masks to everyone not wearing one. No one accepted the offer, but the point was made.

At the grocery store, Hannaford’s policy states, “Please wear a face covering while shopping in our stores,” but store employees are not allowed to enforce the policy. Most people obey the rule, but some don’t. You can almost read the reason for being bald-faced in the expressions on the faces of the unmasked.

The glower on the face of an old geezer as I came out masked and he went in unmasked told me he was probably a Trumpite feeling morally superior to all the liberal snowflakes. The oblivious looks on the faces of a pair of construction workers suggested it just hadn’t occurred to them to wear a mask. Then there was the defiant expression on the face of one middle-aged woman. Not sure what her issue was, but perhaps she was one of those self-reliant souls who just don’t think masks are really effective in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

There are folks all along the political spectrum who think America has succumbed to mass hysteria and that, even if COVID-19 is a serious threat, face masks won’t help. Wearing a face mask, they say, is like erecting a chain link fence to keep out mosquitoes. It’s a feel-good measure at best.

There has been ambivalence about the efficacy of face masks even in the public health sector. At first, the Centers for Disease Control did not recommend masks. Then it recommended masks for people with symptoms. Now they say we should wear one because even people without symptoms can be carriers.

The cliché is that wearing a mask does not protect you, it protects others. I’m not even sure that’s true, but wearing a mask is a sign of solidarity. People who wear masks care about the welfare of others. People who don’t, don’t.

Ultimately, most of us are conflicted about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. We are looking for certainty where there is none. My own conflict is most acute when I try to come to terms with outbreaks in nursing homes. Visitors are restricted. Protective clothing is worn. Hands are washed obsessively, rooms disinfected constantly, yet old people still get sick and die.

We shut down the entire country in an effort to protect these most vulnerable citizens, yet somehow we fail. We cannot allow failure to define us, but that is what is happening in a virulent America where the president won’t even try to help.

Put a mask on, Mr. Trump. So what if it smears your makeup?