Book Thief Foreshadowing

In 1939, Vladek and the Poles lose a battle against the German. He is then captured by the Germans and becomes a prisoner. On page 51 of Maus, Vladek’s story continues to the point in which he is sent to a prisoner camp near Nuremberg. It is on this page that Spiegelman, through his style of illustration and panel layout as well as his use of the theme of hands, invokes a sense of dominance and hostility from the Nazi cat, while helping the reader establish a connection with Vladek. This contributes to the overall idea of difference and segregation between the Jews and Germans in the book. The hands seem to be a very prevalent theme on this page, with only the middle panel not showing hands. In addition, the unnamed cat’s hands are depicted

Every panel that is not the one with Artie and Vladek includes him. On all of the panels on the left, the cat’s face is the center of attention and remains to have the same angry expression. The second panel of the page is a circle with the cat speaking overlaps the first as if to make it make what he is saying more abrupt and loud. This fact that panel is a circle connects it panel on the bottom left corner as they both involve a circle. The two panels also seem to be the only ones looking through Vladek’s perspective as the second panel shows what it would have looked like when Vladek looked at the cat and the sixth one illustrates what Vladek would have seen as he looked down. This makes it easier for the reader to be in Vladek’s shoes and connect with him, making them feel as if they are actually being yelled at and inspected by the Nazi cat. It is clear that the layout of page enhances what is already depicted about the cat. The fact that the cat is unnamed and indistinguishable from the other cats in the book, also makes it more likely that the reader will impose these associations created with other cats. After looking at this page, the reader will think that cats are evil and will have a more polarized perspective of race in this