Allegory In Maus

The Maus books by Art Spiegelman tell a very powerful story about one man’s unforgettable experiences in the Holocaust. Instead of writing the book in a classic novel fashion however, the story takes the form of a graphic novel. Nevertheless, one of the most prominent and controversial aspects of the book is the author’s use of different animals to portray a variety of different races and nationalities. This is a big part of the story and provokes a lot of question and inquiry for the readers. In my opinion, Art Spiegelman chose to do this to possibly strengthen the stereotypes for these people and show some hidden metaphors and symbolisms by doing so. Also, I think he wanted to show a new perspective on the Holocaust- a unique point of view …show more content…
Maus creates an allegory using animals, in which types of people are grouped with the traits of different animals and their representations. For example, the Jews are portrayed as mice which shows the sense that Jewish people are small and harmless, but also, gullible, bad-looking and powerless. The Germans are shown as cats. I think this represents their power and authority over the mice and how they can manipulate and force them into labour and death. As per the famous pair of cats chasing mice, the Nazis don’t just kill the Jews, they hunt them down, manipulate them, force them, then kill them. I’m sure that no one doubts that any race of humans should be treated that way. But then again, in order to express such an inhumane act, he needed to draw inhumane …show more content…
Firstly, in representing Jews as mice, Spiegelman was probably encouraging the stereotype that Jews were less than human and were nuisances and pests. According to my research, “Spiegelman is also playing off a pun on the German verb mauscheln, which is derived from the Yiddish Mausche (Hebrew: Mosheh/Moses), on several levels. In German, the verb is a derogatory term that translates into “to talk like a Jew” or “to swindle like a Jew.” But for the rest of the characters, we also have some symbolisms that represent as to why they were chosen that way. The Americans are portrayed as dogs; friendly animals who help the Jews, resolve all the problems and ultimately end the Holocaust. I think they were shown as such because cats (Nazis) almost always get chased by dogs- they are the predators for the cats. Finally, in the text, the Poles were represented as pigs. I think Art Spiegelman chose to do this to represent how pigs are- very greedy and self-centered. During the story, the Polish pigs sold out the Jews on many occasions. An example of this was when Vladek and his family were staying at Kawka’s farm. “They may come search here any minute! You’ve got to leave!” she said. In this situation, Kawka was being very greedy and did not fulfil her promise entirely. However, I personally do not agree with Art’s decision to portray the Poles this way. I think it is very offensive,