Vladek's Use Of Symbolism In Maus By Art Spiegelman

In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, There are many different themes explored to tell a story as well as the different symbols used to portray certain things. In this graphic novel there is symbolism with the Mice, Cats and Pigs as well as the masks used to “hide” the characters’ identities throughout. We also often see Vladek peddling on his stationary bike while recounting his story to his son. The bike becomes a symbol of the fact that Vladek will never move forward from his prior memories, as even though he speaks about his past trying to forget it, it cannot simply happen. In many aspects of this novel, Spiegelman uses symbolism very effectively in order to explore ideas of the Holocaust and horrific themes. Although Spiegelman uses Symbolism as a primary theme, he also uses …show more content…
The point that the Jews were portrayed as mice and the German Nazis are drawn as cats don't come as much of a surprise. Cats are proven to haunt, they tend to be bigger, stronger and usually eat mice, as mice are often found to be little and quite helpless in most ways. Like actual cats, the Nazis haunt, torture and kill the defenceless Jews symbolizing the most obvious "cat and mouse" metaphor that is frequently found in cartoons and other media, and this is just what the author was trying to portray, the idea that Cats bully the very helpless and vulnerable Mice. As for the Polish, they were portrayed as Pigs because Spiegelman is trying to make the Poles a neutral force between the Cat (Nazis) and the mouse (Jews). The faces of the Pigs are drawn to be neutral and not express much emotion. This is contrasting to the Nazis, or cats, as the Nazis are portrayed as harsh and drawn with anger and strong jaw lines. The use of symbolism with the animals is very effective and makes it simple to tell apart the characters in the