Maus A Survivor's Tale

Throughout the Book Maus A survivor's tale we see the characters are represented by different animals. The jewish people are represented by mice. In representing the Jews as mice, Spiegelman is playing off the anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews as vermin or pests, as less than human.the Nazis are represented by Cats. The Americans are dogs who save the Jewish mice from the German cats. The French are frogs, and the Gypsies are moths. The Poles are pigs. In the final chapter of part one of Maus Mouse Trap we see Vladek compromise his identity in order to survive. He places on a Pig mask in order to safely travel through the city in order to get food. Him putting on the pig mask means he is taking on the persona of the polish.