Maus A Survivor's Tale Symbolism

The use of symbolism is a great way to understand pictures and ideas in literature. Numerous symbols are used in Art Spiegelman's comic book Maus: A Survivor's Tale to create thought-provoking panels that convey deeper meanings and emotions. The most prominent one Spiegelman employs is the analogy between Jews and Germans and cats and mice. The use of different animals to represent various ethnic groups highlights the dehumanizing impact of the Nazi regime while also creating a universal story about the human experience of trauma and survival. A specific passage that stood out to me was on pages 99-103. I chose these panels because it is the only scene in the comic where the characters are portrayed as actual humans and not mice or cats. Moreover,

This caused her to become depressed and extremely critical of herself. An example of this is when Anja says, "But I don't care. I just don't want to live." (Spiegelman 31). A closer examination of this panel reveals that it is slanted. This is the only time a panel looks like this in the entire comic, emphasizing its significance to the reader. Furthermore, since the panel is hung on a wall like a crooked painting or art piece, it represents the mood of Anja, which is one of recklessness and disaster. In this quote, she is insinuating that she does not have the will to live and is having suicidal thoughts. This connects with what happened, as shown on pages 99-104 about her

For example, the last time Art spoke to Anja, Anja said, "Artie.. you... still...love...me... don't you? ... to which Artie replies "Sure ma!" (Spiegelman 103). This clearly shows that Artie and his mother had some problems prior to her killing herself. However, not having this developed relationship does not mean that Art would want to murder his mother, which is what he was accused of doing. For instance, on page 102, a friend of the Spiegelman family says, "Now you cry! Better you cried when your mother was still alive!" (Spiegelman, page 102). This illustrates that even after Anja passed away, people around Art shoved this tragedy in his face as if he were responsible when he was not. A few panels later, Art expresses the guilt he faces due to the death of his mother by saying, "Well, mom, if you are listening... Congratulations!.. You've committed the perfect crime ... You murdered me... mommy, and you left me here to take the rap!!!" This quote clearly shows that Artie feels like he's been framed by his mother for her death. This is clearly illustrated through the prison that Artie is shown to be trapped in. Overall, Artie should not be blamed for her departure from the