Symbolism Of Art Spiegelman's Characters

I believe that Art Spiegelman chose to depict his characters as mice, cats, pigs and the like because it was symbolic of the position of power at the time of the Holocaust. For example, the Jews are represented as mice. I believe that this is symbolic of the fact that the Jews, like mice, were being hunted and eradicated. Additionally, they were forced to live like mice by hiding and scavenging for food. The Nazis are depicted as cats, I believe, to represent that they were the “hunters”, chasing and killing the Jews. Americans are portrayed as dogs because, in this instance, they drove away the Germans or, the cats. Other characters were represented as animals in this story, as well. For example, the Polish were drawn as pigs and the