Zach Burr 110983970
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/3/11239992/8091754.jpg)
The Cat
Now the banal evil that the Nazi’s did clearly relates the Christian view of the symbol of the cat because the banality of evil is a clear relation to the devil himself. The banality of evil is three things; evil which is normal, evil which is rationalized as good, and evil which is trite. What the Nazi’s did is exactly this definition; they treated it like a regular thing that happened by not even caring that these people were dying and by not being upset when they saw a dead Jewish person or when they witnessed one or a group of them being killed. The Nazi’s rationalized to be good because they thought they were eliminating this huge terrible threat that was shown to be evil by Hitler, when actually they were slaughtering innocent, harmless people. And finally, they did evil which is trite because anyone could’ve done these acts and they were not demonic in nature.
So to me Art Spiegelman picked the perfect choice for the Nazi’s in Maus because of all the factors stated above and how perfectly the cat and all its symbols fit the description of the Nazi’s. As well as the fact that the cat is the best suited villain using mice as the protagonists for his story. In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale the author Art Spiegelman depicts all his characters in the story as certain animals and Art chooses to represent the Nazi’s as cats. He chose cats I believe because of two things; they are the moral enemy of mice- who portray the Jewish people, and the symbolism of cats.
Cats and mice have been commonly known to fight against each other and having a rivalry like no other. As seen in cartoon shows like Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes as well as movies like Stuart Little and An American Tail the cat and mouse have always been in a fight. Art uses this common knowledge to portray the Nazi’s as the cats who are usually the villain in every example. Also Art uses the fact that cats hate mice and want to eliminate them from existence which is exactly what the Nazi’s wanted to do to the Jewish people. To continue another reason I believe the author chose to depict the Nazi’s as cats is because they have a tendency to come off as the over powering and dominant character in the cat vs. mouse relationship, which coincides with the Nazi over powering and dominating the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Nazi’s used brute force and military power to get the Jewish people to surrender and follow compliantly with what the Nazi’s were doing. This is a tactic that most cats do in general to get what they want, they use their size and power to capture mice and get what they want from their owners.
To get into more of the symbolism itself of the cat we can look into what An Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols has to say about the symbol of the cat. It says “It denotes stealth; desire; liberty” which can be related to why Art chose them to be the Nazi’s. The Nazi’s had all these three characteristics when they started their campaign against the Jewish people by starting by taking them in the night. As well they had the desire; even if it was a terrible desire, to eliminate the Jewish, and finally they had the liberty to do so thanks to their leader and the president of Germany Adolf Hitler by making it legal to do so in Germany. Also the encyclopedia states that the Christian depiction of the symbol of a cat is “Satan; darkness” which I believe is another reason Art uses the cat to show the Nazi’s in his book. This definition of the symbol of the cat clearly relates to the Nazi’s and how their acts were sinful and evil, by killing thousands of Jewish people just to get rid of them. This can be also related to the depiction of Satan through a cat because what the Nazi’s did was pure banal evil which is what Satan is by definition of the Jewish and Christian religions. All these factors in my opinion had some sort of contribution to why Art Spiegelman chose the cats as the Nazi’s in Maus.
Reference:
1) Cooper, J. C.. An illustrated encyclopedia of traditional symbols. New York: Thames and Hudson, 20041978. Print.
Now the banal evil that the Nazi’s did clearly relates the Christian view of the symbol of the cat because the banality of evil is a clear relation to the devil himself. The banality of evil is three things; evil which is normal, evil which is rationalized as good, and evil which is trite. What the Nazi’s did is exactly this definition; they treated it like a regular thing that happened by not even caring that these people were dying and by not being upset when they saw a dead Jewish person or when they witnessed one or a group of them being killed. The Nazi’s rationalized to be good because they thought they were eliminating this huge terrible threat that was shown to be evil by Hitler, when actually they were slaughtering innocent, harmless people. And finally, they did evil which is trite because anyone could’ve done these acts and they were not demonic in nature.
So to me Art Spiegelman picked the perfect choice for the Nazi’s in Maus because of all the factors stated above and how perfectly the cat and all its symbols fit the description of the Nazi’s. As well as the fact that the cat is the best suited villain using mice as the protagonists for his story. In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale the author Art Spiegelman depicts all his characters in the story as certain animals and Art chooses to represent the Nazi’s as cats. He chose cats I believe because of two things; they are the moral enemy of mice- who portray the Jewish people, and the symbolism of cats.
Cats and mice have been commonly known to fight against each other and having a rivalry like no other. As seen in cartoon shows like Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes as well as movies like Stuart Little and An American Tail the cat and mouse have always been in a fight. Art uses this common knowledge to portray the Nazi’s as the cats who are usually the villain in every example. Also Art uses the fact that cats hate mice and want to eliminate them from existence which is exactly what the Nazi’s wanted to do to the Jewish people. To continue another reason I believe the author chose to depict the Nazi’s as cats is because they have a tendency to come off as the over powering and dominant character in the cat vs. mouse relationship, which coincides with the Nazi over powering and dominating the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The Nazi’s used brute force and military power to get the Jewish people to surrender and follow compliantly with what the Nazi’s were doing. This is a tactic that most cats do in general to get what they want, they use their size and power to capture mice and get what they want from their owners.
To get into more of the symbolism itself of the cat we can look into what An Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols has to say about the symbol of the cat. It says “It denotes stealth; desire; liberty” which can be related to why Art chose them to be the Nazi’s. The Nazi’s had all these three characteristics when they started their campaign against the Jewish people by starting by taking them in the night. As well they had the desire; even if it was a terrible desire, to eliminate the Jewish, and finally they had the liberty to do so thanks to their leader and the president of Germany Adolf Hitler by making it legal to do so in Germany. Also the encyclopedia states that the Christian depiction of the symbol of a cat is “Satan; darkness” which I believe is another reason Art uses the cat to show the Nazi’s in his book. This definition of the symbol of the cat clearly relates to the Nazi’s and how their acts were sinful and evil, by killing thousands of Jewish people just to get rid of them. This can be also related to the depiction of Satan through a cat because what the Nazi’s did was pure banal evil which is what Satan is by definition of the Jewish and Christian religions. All these factors in my opinion had some sort of contribution to why Art Spiegelman chose the cats as the Nazi’s in Maus.
Reference:
1) Cooper, J. C.. An illustrated encyclopedia of traditional symbols. New York: Thames and Hudson, 20041978. Print.