This may be a good obsession for Jack to start; because it protects their innocence from the beasts they become in the mask. However, this turns into a terrible disaster that ends in a chase between the boys. This is shown in the text when Jack first applies the mask: "He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at a formidable stranger... He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty roar" (66) . The boys are also given too much power with the mask, power that can be used for good, but they choose to manipulate each other. Boys can change their personality in the mask by simply washing it and changing the colors and patterns: “He looked at the reflection and didn't like it. He bent down, took a double handful of warm water, and wiped the mess from his face...Jack planned his new face” (66). The power each of the boys gain from their masks is too much for 12 year olds, each mask makes the boy a new person. They can be bloodthirsty, murderous, killers, or wild lake cavemen who do not communicate with each other. This happens in everyday life and throughout this book the reader can experience what it means to live in third world countries. Many ethnic groups and communities around the world use certain paint colors on their skin as a sign of difference from other ethnic groups; Jack's team does this to differentiate