Running Head: MAUS1

Maus

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Maus
Abstract

A picture is worth one thousand words. In literature, anumber of novels exploit

the use of images as a form of expounding on what the novel is talking about. An

example of such a novel is Maus by Art Spiegelman, written between 1980 and 1991.

In such kinds of novels, the meaning of the text is further aided through the use of

images which have to relate with the text in order for the meaning to come through. In

these images, the characters of the text can be brought to life and aid in understanding

certain aspects such as setting. For the purpose of this essay, an insight on the use of

animalistic characters as opposed to human characters in the novel Maus will be

discussed.

Body

The Maus is a series of books that tell a powerful story about the experiences of

one man in the Holocaust. The use of different animals to characterize humans if

different races and nationalities is perhaps the most noticeable feature of the

novel Maus by Art Spiegelman. By using these animals in such a manner, Art tries to

break down the allegory of the novel, and show the reader the Holocaust ideology a

lot better than just using human characters. Spiegelman chooses the animals in a

clever way in that an animal’s attributes are directly related to the attributes of the

human races they represent. All together, the relationship that exists between the

animals brings out the broad ideas in the Holocaust, Spiegelman, Art. (1991). For
instance, in the novel, Germans were represented by cats. The Jews were then

represented by the mice. We all know that cats chase mice in order to feed on

them. Stereotypically, this is much like the way the Jews were hunted by the Germans

during the mass genocide of the Holocaust. One of the images that seem to excel at

explaining the greater meaning of the author is the image that splendidly explains the

greater meaning being conveyed by the author is the one that shows Art shares his

frustration due to his limitation of the ability to put himself in the position as Vladek.

In this image, Art’s frustration is met by a tiny bit of sympathy from his father. In this

image, Art is astonished by the morsel from his father’s narratives. He tries to use

logic to help him understand it bug gives up later when he realizes he just cannot

understand. In the same image, his father summarizes by commenting, ‘Nobody can

understand’, Spiegelman, Art.(1991). The author uses this particular image to show

how difficult it is for the second generation, as well as the survivors themselves, to

completely understand the events that took place in the Holocaust. This is brought out

by the comment “Nobody can understand”, towards Art.

In yet another way, the images in the novel Maus by Art Spiegelman use animals

instead of humans as a visual metaphor that adds to the story. For instance, the Jews

are represented as mice, while the Germans are represented as cats. The deeper

meaning of the characteristics of the specific animals used and the direct comparison

of the human races being represented is one that helps explain the deeper meaning

intended by the author, that during the Holocaust, the different groups of people were
as depicted by the animals used in that they had the same characteristics. For example,

in representing Jews with mice, the author depicted the Jews as innocent, quiet,

regarded as dirty, and always being forced to run away and hide, Doherty, T. (1996).

The use of animals to represent people in the novel Mausby Art Spiegelman adds

a certain aspect of visualization that would lack if humans were used instead, Ewert, J.

C. (2000). If Art Spiegelman had used human figures instead of animalistic figures,

the story would not have been as effective as it did. This is because the animals are all

symbolic with deeper embedded meanings, Ewert, J. C. (2000). However, these

symbolic meanings become more effective as one gets to know the characters in the

novel, such as Anna, Vladek, Art, e.t.c. For instance, these characters become the

center spine of the story where the reader gets to know them so well, thanks to their

symbolic animal figures. On the other hand, not much would change if the author had

used humans instead of animals. This is because, to begin with, the adventures of

Vladek would still be the same, Doherty, T. (1996). The impact would be that this

would bring about a big difference in the way the readers interpret the book. Secondly,

the truth would be much harder if humans were used as the main characters instead of

animals. The events about the war as well as the Holocaust are particularly hard topics

for some audiences. To some of them, it would be hard to read about human beings

being tortured, burnt in big ovens and being gassed. Hence, it would probably be very

hard to cope with, if humans were used. In another sense, the book is nowadays read

by children, mainly because it is a comically graphic book. By this fact, the use of
human figures in the graphical section of the book would have been horrifying to the

children as part of the audiences.

In conclusion, there obviously are several reasons for Art Spiegelman to use

animals, instead of humans. This decision worked out well. In addition, it made it

more accessible for a wide range of readers, by making it appropriate. In

general, Maus would have a great deal of change if Art Spiegelman had decided to use

humans, since this would have made the book more terrifying and dreadful.
 Reference list

Doherty, T. (1996). Art Spiegelman's Maus: Graphic Art and the Holocaust. American

literature,68(1), 69-84.

Ewert, J. C. (2000). Reading Visual Narrative: Art Spiegelman's"

Maus". Narrative, 8(1), 87103.

Spiegelman, Art. (1991). Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale : and Here My Troubles Began. ,

1991.Print.