Oppression and Power

Maus utilizes an unconventional format, pictures and words, to illustrate Vladek’s experience during the Holocaust. Through the use of a variety of rhetorical strategies, Spiegelman demonstrates the importance of power and oppression during the Holocaust.

Spiegelman makes a clear contrast between the Nazis and the Jews; by allowing cats to represent the Nazis and mice to represent the Jews, Spiegelman shows how the Nazis figuratively feed off the Jews to gain power. The cats are depicted with sharp fangs that look ready to feast on the mice. With control over the Jews, the Nazis demonstrate how power is gained by oppressing other people. There are far more mice depicted on the page compared to the number of cats; however, by imposing fear and caging the mice, the Nazis are able to draw strength from their weaknesses.

Furthermore, Spiegelman allows the Swastika to enclose the whole page—from the soldier’s hat and arm to the trucks. The Swastika has become a sign of terror and death for the Jews. By putting the symbol everywhere on the page, Spiegelman highlights how the symbol causes fear—the Swastika is constantly following the Jews throughout their lives. The Swastika on the truck gives power to the Nazis by suggesting that the Jews are a material property of the Nazis. In addition, the containment of the Jews in a truck further demonstrates the control the Nazis have; they are able to control the exact location of Jews, similar to material goods.

Spiegelman sets up a juxtaposition of having the mice control other mice on the bottom left, emphasizing the fact that oppression leads to power. The Nazis are able to force the Jews to subjugate their own people, removing their moral decency, but still control all of the Jews. It is a continuous cycle of abuse from one person to another, leading to the Nazis far reach in the Jewish people’s lives. Spiegelman also makes a stark contrast by having Vladek offer food to another Jew on the top frame; this is the last time he helps someone else without focusing on self-interest. The oppression was not only able to physically control the Jews, but it also controlled them mentally; the Jews no longer operate as caring people but as primitive beings with a man-eat-man mindset.

Spiegelman also demonstrates that oppression gives power to the Nazis through the dialogue. Vladek says many statements in only simple sentences, like “that they will gas us,” to emphasize the fear the Jews faced. Vladek cannot think coherently with long complex thoughts because he knows the impeding danger. The Nazis oppressed the Jews to believe that they would not come out of Auschwitz alive and that they would die for sure. This mindset gives power to the Nazis because the Jews feel hopeless, simply waiting for their death; the Jews do not want to die so they follow the strict Nazi rules. With no sense of hope left, the Jews live their lives in the concentration camps without power, giving their power to the Nazis. 

Spiegelman's Depiction (above) vs. Real Life