Writing, layout and symbolism
All along the novel I have been fascinated by the different symbolism that Spiegelman played with both in the layout and in the writing itself. I am
not referring to the idea of representing people as animals since I guess, without
wanting to take the gloss off his great work, it has been merely based on what G.
Orwell had done in “The Animal Farm”. The
first image that crossed my eyes and caught my attention was a Swastika placed
as a crossroad when Vladek and Anja had nowhere to go. Secondly, The fact that
every time the a double “SS” word pops up, it is written or drawn in runic
alphabet as well as on the Nazi insignia, to refer to the Schutzstaffel (Hitler’s
personal guard at first). Finally, the image that Spiegelman undoubtedly picked to
represent his guilt was the one in which he finds himself in his desk on top of
a pile of dead “Yids” as Spiegelman usually writes. However, there is something
I cannot figure out. I do not want to find the answer on the internet, but I would
like to come with my own answer or maybe you would help me too:
Whenever Vladek was hiding in Poland he dressed as a Pole
officer and wore a “dog” mask. That is crystal clear. But why does he (Art) and Pavel wear masks if they
are not hidden?
I don't want to watch on internet the answer too, but I wondered the same when I finished to read the comic.
ResponderEliminarI would like to give my opinion, because probably has to with the same as I posted before in which I mentioned the epigraph, a quote from Hitler that may help you to clarify why they hide with mouse masks. The quote stated that Jews are a race, but they are not human.
Mice, as they supposedly were at the beginning, are plague, something that everyone dislike, as Jews were seem like that in that time by nazis.
What I want to explain is that they hide behind a mask and then show they real identity to prove that they were not less than everyone else, and also to give a real reference to makes us closer to the story (we are human, as they finally are)
As far as I read and the information exposed on my entry, that is my personal opinion.
I can clearly see your point, however, i guess you misunderstood my question since it was more specific.
ResponderEliminarThe thing is that they are always represented as mice along the novel.But there's a moment in which they wear mice masks. Why would they do it if they had already been represented as mice?