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The Dog
I guess the most obvious and somewhat humourous implication of Spiegelman’s usage of dogs to represent Americans is the implication that the dogs are chasing the cats away. It is quite appropriate to show the cats oppressing the mice and then the cats fleeing from the dogs, it seems that Spiegelman intended to use this metaphor from the get go. In some African mythologies the dog is thought to be a culture hero and a bringer of life. The dogs in Maus represent both of these traits for the liberated Jews. In Aztec mythology Dogs represent the sacrifice that would allow one to enter the afterlife, the sacrifice of the American soldiers (dogs) have allowed Vladek and his fellow Jews to move on to a new life. Cats in Christian mythology are associated with darkness and evil, usually kept as pets by witches who are often demonized. Humans often associate the Nazi party and the things they ordered the German people to do with evil, demonizing Hitler and his regime. Strangely in Egyptian mythology, cats were considered close to holy and treated with reverence. The Nazi party truly believed they were doing the work of god by purifying the races of the world and expanding their territory, the S.S. have something to the effect of “God is with us” on their uniforms for this reason. Mice are associated with Darkness, incessant movement and senseless agitation. All of these attributes paint a fairly accurate picture of the way the Nazis viewed the Jews during the years that they were in power. There is no aspect of sympathy for mice to be found in any mythology, they are simply a nuisance. In Hebrew mice represent hypocrisy and duplicity, two traits that anti-Semites often apply to the Jews. This stereotype dates back to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas who is often described with the same “Jewish” traits that Goebbels uses in his propaganda campaign for the final solution
The dogs are the first to treat Vladek and company as humans since his capture; he is put to work for them while they are stationed there and given a place to live. To Vladek the American forces represent freedom and peace in contrast with his years of suffering. Dogs, in some mythologies have been thought to be keepers of the boundary between this world and the next. Cerberus from Greek mythology is the most known example of this, the three headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld. A more contemporary example of this from popular culture is Fluffy the three headed dog who guards the door that leads to the philosophers stone in the Harry Potter series. After the German army escape across a river and blow up the bridge and the Americans arrive Vladek finally feels secure. As dogs Americans could well represent a bastion in between the “hell” that they had been through and the peaceful world they now lived in.
Dogs, if J.C. Cooper is to be believed, have been known to represent loyalty, watchfulness and nobility. Though there are few examples of loyalty in the ten or so pages that the dogs are featured in, there is a feeling of watchfulness that comes with their presence. A feeling of watching over and protecting the Jews and prisoners of war that were gathered together under the protection of the U.S. forces. The Americans are not keeping the Jews from entering “hell” but keeping the German army away from the peaceful world. Much like Cerberus who guards the underworld, not to keep the living out, but the dead inside. A more contemporary example of this is the black gate in the Lord of the Rings, built by the nation of Gondor to contain Mordor within its boundaries.
Concerning the representation of races.
Spiegelman uses dogs to represent the American forces pursuing the last of the German army, this and the black dog seen are the only major representations of dogs in Maus. The way races are represented gets a little confusing after they are introduced, I had originally assumed that the animals represented the race of the characters. However when the dogs are introduced this comes into question, specifically the black dog though he is an American citizen he is originally from Africa. Yet he is represented as a dog as opposed to whatever animal would represent Africans, one would think he would be represented as an African animal living amongst the Americans (dogs) much like Vladek was a Jew (mouse) living amongst the polish (pigs). The second instance of this confusion was at the beginning of the second book, during the conversation between Art and his wife Francoise Art, admits to having trouble deciding how to portray her. As a frog or a mouse, she angrily responds that she should be portrayed as a mouse because she converted to the Jewish religion. In every other case but his wife’s, the type of animal is based off nationality and not religion. This is a little off topic but I wanted to address it, I feel that understanding the difference between the races and how they are represented is crucial to understanding the message that the author is trying to convey with this form of literature.
I guess the most obvious and somewhat humourous implication of Spiegelman’s usage of dogs to represent Americans is the implication that the dogs are chasing the cats away. It is quite appropriate to show the cats oppressing the mice and then the cats fleeing from the dogs, it seems that Spiegelman intended to use this metaphor from the get go. In some African mythologies the dog is thought to be a culture hero and a bringer of life. The dogs in Maus represent both of these traits for the liberated Jews. In Aztec mythology Dogs represent the sacrifice that would allow one to enter the afterlife, the sacrifice of the American soldiers (dogs) have allowed Vladek and his fellow Jews to move on to a new life. Cats in Christian mythology are associated with darkness and evil, usually kept as pets by witches who are often demonized. Humans often associate the Nazi party and the things they ordered the German people to do with evil, demonizing Hitler and his regime. Strangely in Egyptian mythology, cats were considered close to holy and treated with reverence. The Nazi party truly believed they were doing the work of god by purifying the races of the world and expanding their territory, the S.S. have something to the effect of “God is with us” on their uniforms for this reason. Mice are associated with Darkness, incessant movement and senseless agitation. All of these attributes paint a fairly accurate picture of the way the Nazis viewed the Jews during the years that they were in power. There is no aspect of sympathy for mice to be found in any mythology, they are simply a nuisance. In Hebrew mice represent hypocrisy and duplicity, two traits that anti-Semites often apply to the Jews. This stereotype dates back to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas who is often described with the same “Jewish” traits that Goebbels uses in his propaganda campaign for the final solution
The dogs are the first to treat Vladek and company as humans since his capture; he is put to work for them while they are stationed there and given a place to live. To Vladek the American forces represent freedom and peace in contrast with his years of suffering. Dogs, in some mythologies have been thought to be keepers of the boundary between this world and the next. Cerberus from Greek mythology is the most known example of this, the three headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld. A more contemporary example of this from popular culture is Fluffy the three headed dog who guards the door that leads to the philosophers stone in the Harry Potter series. After the German army escape across a river and blow up the bridge and the Americans arrive Vladek finally feels secure. As dogs Americans could well represent a bastion in between the “hell” that they had been through and the peaceful world they now lived in.
Dogs, if J.C. Cooper is to be believed, have been known to represent loyalty, watchfulness and nobility. Though there are few examples of loyalty in the ten or so pages that the dogs are featured in, there is a feeling of watchfulness that comes with their presence. A feeling of watching over and protecting the Jews and prisoners of war that were gathered together under the protection of the U.S. forces. The Americans are not keeping the Jews from entering “hell” but keeping the German army away from the peaceful world. Much like Cerberus who guards the underworld, not to keep the living out, but the dead inside. A more contemporary example of this is the black gate in the Lord of the Rings, built by the nation of Gondor to contain Mordor within its boundaries.
Concerning the representation of races.
Spiegelman uses dogs to represent the American forces pursuing the last of the German army, this and the black dog seen are the only major representations of dogs in Maus. The way races are represented gets a little confusing after they are introduced, I had originally assumed that the animals represented the race of the characters. However when the dogs are introduced this comes into question, specifically the black dog though he is an American citizen he is originally from Africa. Yet he is represented as a dog as opposed to whatever animal would represent Africans, one would think he would be represented as an African animal living amongst the Americans (dogs) much like Vladek was a Jew (mouse) living amongst the polish (pigs). The second instance of this confusion was at the beginning of the second book, during the conversation between Art and his wife Francoise Art, admits to having trouble deciding how to portray her. As a frog or a mouse, she angrily responds that she should be portrayed as a mouse because she converted to the Jewish religion. In every other case but his wife’s, the type of animal is based off nationality and not religion. This is a little off topic but I wanted to address it, I feel that understanding the difference between the races and how they are represented is crucial to understanding the message that the author is trying to convey with this form of literature.