Anyone who has ever, actually been kidnapped, bound and gagged understands exactly what "masks" represent. Your odds of survival drop dramatically once you are unable to cry for help, and once you our bound you are effectively a dead person.
All I have to do is put one over my face and those memories begin raging in my mind.
The lesson is simple and clear. If you are going to die, no matter what you do, it's better to die fighting than to be tortured slowly to death.