What is the significance of the masks worn by Jeff and Royce in the novel, All the Sinners Bleed?

Throughout the novel, Jeff Spearman and Royce Lazare’s wolf masks function as physical manifestations of their internal evils. As they abuse, torture, and murder children, the men wear sinister wolf masks. The masks mark them as ravenous, violent individuals. As the novel progresses, Lazare repeatedly refers to Titus’ constituents and loved ones as his “flock” (216). He then casts himself as a metaphorical wolf that doggedly hounds these vulnerable, innocent sheep. In this way, the wolf masks literalize Spearman and Lazare’s roles as vicious, barbarous predators.