h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the most interesting things about people is the intense need to conceptualize and read meaning into everything they encounter. Take personality for instance. People like to think they know how others would react to any given situation, but when it comes right down to it, you really can't know someone else. You can only see that part of their personality which they choose to show you and try to make do. The obvious physical manifestation conceptualizing this difficulty is the mask.

Masks are facsinating. Physically they can be made of anything from the shearest cloth to wood, metal or leather. They fit over your face - the most telling aspect of your body in terms of emotion. They ride your features, obscuring and replacing them. They can be beautiful or disgusting. They can take over your personality and permit you to be someone else for a time. But there's the rub yes? You are always yourself; the mask isn't another entity. Your behavior while wearing one still finds its source in you.

Masks are a bridge, a link from the outside to your self, a shortcut to your id. A bit of paper over your face can free you to behave in ways you never would if other people could simply see your features.