Masks

In Maus, we see that there are two different characters that show up. One is a human wearing a mask and the other the actual animal. Why doesn't Art Spiegelman use the same type of characters throughout Maus? One reason is that he wanted to portray different types of identity. 

Masks are all about identity in the comic but the difference between the animal masks worn by humans and the actual animals is their ability to control their identity. The idea surrounding the mask is that it's removable. In volume 2, chapter 2, they are humans wearing masks. This means that they could take off their masks, or in other words strip off their identity, anytime they wanted too. They had the ability to since they have freedom to do that and nobody had the right of controlling them. This was not the case during the Holocaust. The Jews or whoever was placed in their concentration camps were at the Nazis' mercy. They had nowhere to go and were trapped. Their freedom was compromised and they didn't have the ability to change identities or change who they were because the Nazis didn't let them. The Nazis controlled the Jews completely and did not allow them to change. This is why they are portrayed as actual animals, since they cannot strip off their identity because of their lack of freedom to do so. 

Similarly, masks can be related to everyday life. My friend once said that everybody has MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder). I asked him how and he said, "I act differently around different people". In a sense, it is absolutely true. Everybody seemly changes their attitude towards different kinds of people. For example, I would be a bit quiet and reserved around people I don't quite know well yet. Here, I would be wearing a mask to contain my true self. I could take off this mask and strip off the outer shell of my personality and show them how I'm really am like but like many, I'm too wary of other people's judgment. On the other hands, I'm mask-free when it comes to my best friend. I don't have to be contained by judgment but instead have a sense of complete freedom. 

This, on the side note, contrasts with the Jews. They feel a complete sense of dominance by the Nazis and entrapment when they are drawn to be “mask-free”.