Prisha Mathur Ms. Benedetti English CP 27 March 2024 A Cat and Mouse Chase In Art Spiegelman’s book Maus, published in 1986, he tells the story about his father’s experience as a Jew during the Holocaust in graphic novel form. Spiegelman walks us through not only his father’s experiences during the Holocaust, but also the after effects on himself and his family. Spiegelman’s characters are represented as animals based on their ethnicity and religion, such as Jews as mice, Nazis as cats, Americans as dogs, and Polish people as pigs, to gain a deeper understanding of their behavior. Additionally, it helps the reader understand the concepts and events of the Holocaust in a storybook format. The use of animals instead of humans can be used to show the complexity of character and …show more content…
Throughout the book, the tail of the character comes and goes. But as times get more and more dire, the tail pops up more often. For example, on page 138 in chapter 6, Valdek and Anja are wearing pig masks, which shows that they are disguising themselves as Poles. The key part about this scene is that while Vladek's tail is not showing, Anja’s is. Valdek even mentions, “I was a little safe”. I had a coat and boots, like a gestapo wore when he was not in service. But with Anja’s appearance, you could easily see that she was Jewish. I was afraid of her'' (Spiegelman 138). Anja’s tail sticks out from under her coat, which increases the chances of Valdek or her being caught. If they are caught, they will both face very harsh punishment that could lead to death. Valdek has pretended to be a Polish person many times and several times doing risky things, such as sneaking into a Nazi train car, which shows that his confidence that he has is also a part of his disguise. On the other hand, Anja shakes from nervousness, which puts her at further risk of being