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Symbolism In Art Spiegelman's 'Maus'

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“Maus”, written by Art Spiegelman, is an accurate representation of the Holocaust as a graphic novel. The addition of pictures in this novel really help the reader feel as if they were in novel. For example, Vladek draws the side view of the cellar, where the coal storage is (Spiegelman 112). The images of the hiding spots help the reader really visualize the conditions where the Jews were living. In Elie Wiesel’s Night I find it hard to depict the ghettos and barracks. Moreover, the portrayal of different races as distinct animals symbolizes the relationship between each ethnicity. As seen on page 221, the kapo is represented by a cat, talking to the Art, a mouse. The cat symbolizes a hostile, dominant predator that eats the innocent, helpless prey, the mouse. This comparison reminds me of the TV show Tom and Jerry.
Similar to Night, morality and survival are major topics evident throughout the narration. For instance, as Vladek describes the measures people took to ensure survival as “...it wasn’t anymore families. It was everybody to take care for himself” (Spiegelman 116). This quote is significant because it indicates the deterioration of humanity and how people were no longer concerned if their parents were starving, it was the human instinct of taking extreme …show more content…

However, it is questionable how accurate his representation of the Holocaust is since he did not actually live in the concentration camps. Furthermore, it must have been difficult to write about Anja’s life considering that all the details of her life are from memories since Vladek destroyed all of her writing and journals to cope with her committing suicide. Unlike my assumption that a graphic novel would belittle the severity of the Holocaust, this novel is very successful in narrating the events

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