A Deeper Meaning to Propaganda and Maus




Did you think I was done blogging about Maus? Well, you thought wrong. There is so much depth in Maus that I could write about it for weeks. But, this week I will be focusing on the similarities and differences between Nazi propaganda and Maus chapter title pages. Take a look at the two images above. On the left is a Nazi propaganda and the right is the title page of chapter four from Maus. The first thing I noticed was that they both have some sort of portrayal of Jews. The Nazi propaganda represents the Jews as evil and conniving. You can come to this conclusion by the facial expression of the Jew. Also, the wider size of the Jews depicts how they are greedy and well-off. This shows how the Nazi believe that the Jews are corrupt people and are capable of causing destruction. On the other hand, Spiegelman portrays the Jews in a completely contrasting manner. Despite being saved from the Nazis, the Jews are still wearing prison uniforms. This shows how they will always be under the influence of the Nazis. The Jews are also shown smaller in size. This is representative of how the Jews weren’t treated like humans, also shown by using mice to represent Jews. This shows how the Jews view themselves: prisoners. They feel as if their whole life has been taken away from the Nazis. By creating a sharp contrast, Spiegelman is able to reinforce the perspective of the Jews. Spiegelman’s whole purpose is to highlight the varying views of the Jews and Nazis.

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