Explanation of character roles in MAUS I

Johnny Appleseed
Ms. Collins
English, Period 8
May 27, 2013

Title There is an abundance of symbolism in Maus I by Art Speigelman. This Graphic Novel features Vladek Speigelman and his family during the Holocaust, from when he first meets his wife Anja Speigelman, to their journey to a concentration camp. Vladek and his family are Jewish and are therefore portrayed as mice. The Germans and/or Nazis are cats, and the Americans are the Dogs. The people who are Polish are pigs. These animals were chosen to show the relationships of the different ethnicities of the people in the book. These Characteristics mimic the long time tale of a bickering mouse and cat and the dog that has to split up the two. The pigs (Polish) seem to take on a somewhat neutral stance in the situation but choose to take whichever side is more dominant in times of crises. The cats in Maus are the Nazis and appear as the leaders of the Holocaust movement. Cats in cartoons, literature, and sometimes in real life have the qualities of being sneaky and always wanting to hunt something inferior to them, whether it is a moth, a lizard, or a mouse. Cats are also most known for their curiosity. The Doctors that belonged to the Nazi party at this time were also very “curious” about the genetic make up and mental abilities of the Jewish people. They quite literally saw them as play things to be tested on whether the results would be useful or not. It is for these reasons that I believe Art Speigelman chose this animal to represent the German Nazis. I personally believe that the form of a cat to represent the Nazi’s is a very accurate choice for Speigelman to have picked. They are a very smart species and are surprisingly high up on the food chain as far as house pets go but they are not at the top. At the top of the house pet food chain is the dog. The absolute enemy of cats in most representations is the dog. Dogs are seen as more powerful than a cat and when put against one another most would put their money on the dog. Dogs are seen as loyal, helpful, compassionate, and brave when they’re being counted on. These qualities represent Americans who, as we know from our history books, helped the Jewish people of Germany overcome Nazism in World War II. It makes sense that this animal would be chosen to defend the weak mice against the evil cats. This analogy has been used throughout the years and is a perfect depiction of the affiliation the groups have with each other. Speigelman wanted to show that the Americans and German Nazis were completely against each other at this time. This was a very skillful choice by Speigelman because; Dogs and cats are always shown as sworn enemies so it applies perfectly to the relations between the Americans and German Nazis at this time. The Jewish people in Maus I are illustrated as the mice. Mice are known for being scared and hiding in places you’d never imagine. Mice are also known to be scavengers and are often the prey of many larger animals. They are considered weak and a general pest to everyday life. The picture of mice is symbolic to the Jewish people because they were in hiding and considered the prey of others. The Jewish people were practically hunted down in this novel and in history for someone else’s gain or even for sport. The Jewish people much like mice have been put in very bad situations for simply being what they are naturally. Art Speigelman chose mice to represent the Jews in order to point out what role they played in WWII. As a Jewish person myself, I find it a bit unsettling that such a weak animal was chosen to play an amazing and strong race of people but, putting my own thoughts aside I still believe that for this novel, mice were the best choice to truthfully explain the correlation between the Americans and the Nazis.