"He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger... He capered towered Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self consciousness."
Jack finds liberation behind the "mask" in his new persona. It is both is and isn't a mask. Literally it is just some mud he put on his face to help in the hunt but to Jack it represents much, much more. Figuratively it represents him masking his old life and letting his new self take over
Jack was a choir boy and went to a military academy and those who are sent there usually have some problem at home or previous schooling. In the beginning of the story Jack seems to have quelled these rebellious activities but his experiences on the island have let them reign free. The mask gives him the freedom.
Jack is almost like a superhero in this sense. He dawns a new persona when he puts on a mask. It has yet to be seen which is the true Jack. Is he like Bruce Wayne where Batman is the real person and Bruce Wayne is the person that he puts on or is he like Clark Kent where he and Superman are one in the same? I'm going to hedge a bet that he is the prior but he isn't as heroic as either.
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