To be a prisoner within yourself

On page 35 of MAUS by Art Spiegelman, Vladek and Anja are dancing at the theatre at the sanitarium located inside Czechoslovakia. Anja had gone with Vladek due to her depression. In the panels where they are dancing. Spiegelman has a spotlight on them and those in the background have stripes on them. Now at first glance, it’s easy to just think “oh the author just uses the stripes as a method for shading”,  but there is a very significant message in all of his small, little detail work. Previously, Vladek had been covered in stripes while being on the stationary bike and it was more or less very obvious that it was to show how he is still a prisoner to Auschwitz. In these panels, all of the animals are prisoners, but Anja and Vladek aren’t.

The reasoning for this is because in this moment they were happy and hopeful. Vladek is trying to make Anja smile and is rewarded with her rejoicing her love for him. The rest of the animals do not have the same hope and love as the happy couple. The pigs that are stripped look tired and defeated. Although they aren’t prisoners of the holocaust, they are prisoners of themselves. They were ignorant and ignored all of the awful and inhumane actions that the Nazis took upon the Jews. They have in turn imprisoned themselves. The cats that have stripes show how even the Nazis were prisoners of themselves and these camps. This does not in any way, shape, or form even begin to excuse their actions. Despite this, the Nazis were under a mob mentality during the Holocaust. Hitler had come into power at a time when Germany was vulnerable and was in need of a strong leader. Because of this, those serving Hitler were blind to their actions, and therefore prisoners within themselves.