1. Themes, Symbolism, and Motifs
Advanced Composition
Maus

2. Theme
A common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work. A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic.
In Maus theme is not presented in a preachy manner, such as in fables. In fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.

3. Themes in Maus What are some themes you have already seen in Maus?
Familial guilt
Survivor’s guilt
Freedom
Faith
Identity
Conflicts between past and present
Luck
Love

4. Symbolism
A symbol is a word or object that stands for another word or object. For example, a dove is a symbol for peace.
Symbols in Maus?
Prisons
Eyes
Anthroporphism- giving animals human characteristics
Cats- Jews
Mice- Germans
pigs - Poles: Jews don’t eat pork and consider the pig a dirty animal
fish - British: the British have been long renowned for their navy.
dogs - Americans: “man’s best friend”; the liberators.
frogs - French: double meaning – frogs are slippery, slimy (; frogs can change into princes.

5. Motif
A recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature. A motif is important because it allows one to see main points and themes that the author is trying to express, in order that one might be able to interpret the work more accurately.
(I personally think of motifs as patterns)
Motifs in Maus?
Numbers/ Dates
Masks
Trains
Circles/ Cycles

6. All three concepts seem to be similar- so how can I keep them separate?
Theme(s)- main idea(s). The big take-aways or applications to life.
Motif- can be a structure, an image, a color, etc. as long as it repeats throughout large portions of the text for a purpose.
Symbol- an object, character, color, figure that helps to make an abstract idea more concrete.
Both symbols and motifs enhance and support the theme!