Represenation in Graphic Novels

Extension of experience of reality.

in the novel Maus, the different races are represented as animals.

The fact that animals are used helps us relate that to the importance and power of the particular race and where they are in the 'food chain' so to speak.
In the book Jews are represented as mice, which indicates they are very timid, shy and that they are a lower down in the ranks of life. Germans are represented as cats which shows that they are the ones who pray on the mice, almost like bullies. It can widen your view on things or narrow it depending on which way you look at things.

The different animals that are used to represent the different races are very stereo typical and racist. The drawings of the animals in the book all the characters look the same which gives the impression that there is no individuality and that everyone is the same. Which is wrong, everyone is there own person and individual. It is also only written from one persons perspective and how the interpret what happened in the holocaust. If it was written by someone else, the characters would more than likely be different animals or maybe even not animals at all. Art spiegelman could of represented people as being animals as it is easy to tell the difference between them as a mouse is a mouse, a dog is a dog and so on and so fourth. But this interpretation wouldn't work in real life situations as not all jews look the same. People cant be categorized as simply as spiegelman makes out in the book.
He put people as animals to show how ridiculous it is to put people in boxes. This is so as people are all the same because they are human but yet they are so different.
If you look at it from a different point of view, it could be done due to the personality traits of the specific animal and the role of their particular race/nationality had in the Holocaust.