In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, the use of animal figures contributes to the books meaning. Spiegelman refers to Jews and Nazis through a cat-and-mouse dynamic, in order to demonstrate the dehumanization Vladek experienced during the Holocaust and ultimately humanize his father and other Jewish people.
Spiegelman also chose to use animal figures to show the hierarchy of how races were perceived by Nazis. Throughout the book Spiegelman explains the Holocaust through his father's stories, however, Jews are pictured as mice while Nazis are drawn as cats. This shows the power dynamic the Nazis strived to have between Jewish people. The fact that mice are considered weak and small to cats shows how high rank the Nazis thought of themselves to be. In conclusion, the use of animal figures shows the hierarchy of how races were perceived by Nazis.
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For instance on page 51, the drawing of a human hand (which is Vladeks hand) in a clawed hand (a Nazi’s hand). This shows Spiegelman reversing their own dehumanization onto Nazis, to show that no matter what the Nazis called Jewish people, they’d always be human. Another reason why the Nazis had a clawed hand is also to show that, because of their inhumane and heartless actions towards people, they’d never be respected as people. As a result, the act of Spiegelman returning the act of dehumanization back to the Nazis shows him criticizing Nazi propoganda