Different Worlds
Jews are mice, Nazis are cats, and Poles are pigs. In the setting of “Maus 1: A Survivor’s Tale, My Father Bleeds History”, Art Spiegelman’s characters are far more iconic than they are particular. It is very difficult to distinguish each of the characters through looks alone, and the reader must do so through the dialogue, clothing, and the personality of the different characters. Spiegelman uses iconic characters rather than unique ones so as to separate the parties involved into groups based on their race, and how each was treated by the other parties.
Firstly, the Jews were depicted as mice because both the Poles and the Germans saw them as dirty people, vermin. Though, occasionally a Pole would have pity and help out a Jew, like when Ms. Motonowa on pg 143 risked her life to …show more content…
The Jews had mixed feelings about them; some thought they were friendly like Ms. Motonowa because they helped hide them from the Germans (though never for free), while others thought that they were menacing due to the fact that they treated them harshly like the Germans did. They did so by shunning and even trying to expose them to the Germans, just like the children did to Vladek on pg. 149. As for the German’s opinion on the Poles, though they did not exterminate them like they did to the Jews, they still exploited them, treated them worse than their own people, and acted superior when around them. The hiding and fearful Poles throughout the novel are an indication of this. The pig is a fitting icon for the Poles because German citizens during World War II used to refer to the Poles as ‘swine’, another word for pig. Also there is some hidden symbolism in Spiegelman’s choice of pigs being used to represent the Poles. Since pigs as animals, naturally have no place in the relationship of a cat and a mouse. This choice could also refer to how the Poles were trying their best to not get involved in the ongoing
Jews are mice, Nazis are cats, and Poles are pigs. In the setting of “Maus 1: A Survivor’s Tale, My Father Bleeds History”, Art Spiegelman’s characters are far more iconic than they are particular. It is very difficult to distinguish each of the characters through looks alone, and the reader must do so through the dialogue, clothing, and the personality of the different characters. Spiegelman uses iconic characters rather than unique ones so as to separate the parties involved into groups based on their race, and how each was treated by the other parties.
Firstly, the Jews were depicted as mice because both the Poles and the Germans saw them as dirty people, vermin. Though, occasionally a Pole would have pity and help out a Jew, like when Ms. Motonowa on pg 143 risked her life to …show more content…
The Jews had mixed feelings about them; some thought they were friendly like Ms. Motonowa because they helped hide them from the Germans (though never for free), while others thought that they were menacing due to the fact that they treated them harshly like the Germans did. They did so by shunning and even trying to expose them to the Germans, just like the children did to Vladek on pg. 149. As for the German’s opinion on the Poles, though they did not exterminate them like they did to the Jews, they still exploited them, treated them worse than their own people, and acted superior when around them. The hiding and fearful Poles throughout the novel are an indication of this. The pig is a fitting icon for the Poles because German citizens during World War II used to refer to the Poles as ‘swine’, another word for pig. Also there is some hidden symbolism in Spiegelman’s choice of pigs being used to represent the Poles. Since pigs as animals, naturally have no place in the relationship of a cat and a mouse. This choice could also refer to how the Poles were trying their best to not get involved in the ongoing