PEOPLE
Vertical stripes in the book usually symbolize this.
What is prison?
The chapter titles (The Noose Tightens, Mouse Holes, Mouse Trap) represent this feeling.
What is claustrophobia?
When characters lie or do something shady, Spiegelman often draws them like this.
What is in silhouette?
The ugly, unwanted coat Vladek forces on Artie is a symbol for this.
What is love?
Because Jews are forced to creep around/hide and are exterminated like vermin, Spiegelman draws them like this.
What is as mice?
The country Vladek wanted to flee to during the war.
What is Hungary?
Artie carries this, which stands for all his emotional baggage.
What is a briefcase?
In order to show Anja can't "pass" as non-Jewish, Spiegelman draws her with this, which Vladek doesn't have.
What is a tail?
Artie confesses to Mala he is concerned he is portraying his father as this.
What is a cruel Jewish stereotype?
This is the Polish nanny who worked for the Spiegelmans but refused to hide them once the war began.
Who is Janina?
The name of the most notorious concentration camp.
What is Auschwitz?
When Vladek pedals on his exercise bike and goes nowhere, it symbolizes this emotion.
What is guilt?
In order to show that dividing people into groups is arbitrary and foolish, Spiegelman draws mice with masks that have this detail.
What is a string?
Artie spends a lot of time trying to find these, which belonged to his mother.
What are her diaries?