How Does Spiegelman Use Animals In The Holocaust
Haftr High School Summer Reading Project Paper By: Haley Wiener
The author of Maus, Art Spiegelman, portrays the different types of people involved in the holocaust in a confusing way. Spiegelman uses animals in the graphic novel to try (and help) the reader understand relationships, feelings, and situations more deeply. The author uses mice as Jews, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs, the Americans as dogs, the French as frogs, the Swedes by reindeers, the British by fish, and the Romani people as gypsy moths. As mice, the Jews were being represented by scrawny, pitiful creatures. But they could also be viewed as intelligent animals who store food and supplies, because they knew they will need it later when there wouldn’t be …show more content…
Pigs are known to be dirty and greedy, which is exactly how some acted in the holocaust. For example, they made deals with starving and terrified Jews and ratted them out for trying to make deals to Nazis or German officials. The Americans were portrayed as dogs. Dogs are very friendly animals, some might say the most friendly, and everybody wants the dogs on their side; they’re powerful, yet fair. Dogs and cats obviously don’t get along, which represented the Germans and Americans well at the time. The French were represented as frogs. There are two explanations for this reference: either that the French are known as the country who eat frogs, or that while frogs have their own appeal for being fascinating, they are also known for being appalling animals, who can possibly be poisonous. In my opinion, there is simply no specific reason for why the reindeer was chosen as the animal to represent the Swedes. One possibility is because there are many reindeer found in Sweden. The British were represented as fish because fish are animals who excel in one area, and lack in another. Fish are skilled at swimming, but can’t go on land. In World War II, which is connected to the Holocaust, the British had an outstanding Navy but the soldiers on land weren’t nearly as good. The explanation for why the Romani people were represented as gypsy moths is a rather self-evident reason. The explanation for this portrayal is that the Romani
The author of Maus, Art Spiegelman, portrays the different types of people involved in the holocaust in a confusing way. Spiegelman uses animals in the graphic novel to try (and help) the reader understand relationships, feelings, and situations more deeply. The author uses mice as Jews, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs, the Americans as dogs, the French as frogs, the Swedes by reindeers, the British by fish, and the Romani people as gypsy moths. As mice, the Jews were being represented by scrawny, pitiful creatures. But they could also be viewed as intelligent animals who store food and supplies, because they knew they will need it later when there wouldn’t be …show more content…
Pigs are known to be dirty and greedy, which is exactly how some acted in the holocaust. For example, they made deals with starving and terrified Jews and ratted them out for trying to make deals to Nazis or German officials. The Americans were portrayed as dogs. Dogs are very friendly animals, some might say the most friendly, and everybody wants the dogs on their side; they’re powerful, yet fair. Dogs and cats obviously don’t get along, which represented the Germans and Americans well at the time. The French were represented as frogs. There are two explanations for this reference: either that the French are known as the country who eat frogs, or that while frogs have their own appeal for being fascinating, they are also known for being appalling animals, who can possibly be poisonous. In my opinion, there is simply no specific reason for why the reindeer was chosen as the animal to represent the Swedes. One possibility is because there are many reindeer found in Sweden. The British were represented as fish because fish are animals who excel in one area, and lack in another. Fish are skilled at swimming, but can’t go on land. In World War II, which is connected to the Holocaust, the British had an outstanding Navy but the soldiers on land weren’t nearly as good. The explanation for why the Romani people were represented as gypsy moths is a rather self-evident reason. The explanation for this portrayal is that the Romani