“The Secret to become successful as a Mouse”
The article has an interesting topic by focusing on the book of Spiegelman about the holocaust and using animals to describe people from various races. The author’s explanation about the graphic novel “The Complete Maus” taught the readers about the reality of life by emphasizing on the animal instinct where one race is willing to kill another as part of the survival of the fittest. The thesis of the article is interesting because it deals with the characteristics of each race and visually portrayed them as different animals. I like the theme of the article because it showed a glimpse of the culture of the particular animal that each race represented.
The author identified the nationalities by using different kinds of animals such as mice as Jews, cats as Germans, and pigs to represent the Polish citizens. Choosing the kind of specie to represent a particular race provided a vivid distinction between ethnic groups, and their similarity to the characteristics of these animals. In the case of the Jews, the author depicted them to represent the mice or a mouse. The mouse is considered as a parasite because they are pests and not welcomed by homeowners. The mice steal food for survival and avoid being caught.
The mice can spread deadly diseases and people want to exterminate them. In the case of the Jews, they were dehumanized by the Nazis. Just like the mice, the Jews strive hard in order to survive and face the cruel world. Thus, the author’s theme was very inspiring in the sense that he wanted the nations to unite and act with kindness and towards each other by reinforcing their relationships.
