Free Essay

Cat or Mouse

In:

Submitted By godogwar
Words 663
Pages 3
Cat or Mouse
Along the novel the symbolic figures of the cat and the mouse, are named constantly. The cat mainly represents the persecutor, the repressor, while the mouse represents the victim. The cat in the novel represents, for instance, the Nazis and the mouse, the occupied and humiliated Poland. Pilenz and Mahlke also represent both animals: Pilenz the cat as direct or indirectly contributes to Mahlke's destruction, and then again the love and hate relationship that he feels towards Mahlke creates in him such dependence that later turns him into the mouse. Mahlke is the mouse. An animal which is also represented by Mahlke's apple of his throat because he is eternaly humiliated even though he keeps trying to be accepted by the Nazi society all the time, making all kind of feats to pay people's attention. Mahlke is also a cat because of the feelings of dependence and of inferiority that he awakes in Pilenz.
The reader is not expected to share Pilenz admiration for Mahlke', due to the way Pilenz tells Mahlke's story. One may have a feeling that, when reading Pilenz's words, Mahlke's attitude is sometimes irritable, egocentric, and so on, despite often the fact that Pilenz wants to deny those feelings which we perceive that he shows. Many times the group of friend’s joke and laugh at Mahlke, including Pilenz: “We laughed as, bluish and shivering, he crossed himself with his waterlogged fingertips, attempted to move his lips in prayer and produced a bit of Latin between chattering teeth”. They do not help him, for example, but instead laugh. (3)
Pilenz is obsessed with Mahlke; we can see this throughout the book. He criticizes and flatters Mahlke, he helps and betrays him, he admires and gets on his nerves when he is with him. These acts reflect the love-hate feelings Pilenz feels towards Mahlke. Sometimes Pilenz feels compassion towards Mahlke and sometimes Pilenz sees Mahlke as a clown. From the beginning of the novel to the moment when Mahlke decides to become a war hero, from the moments he wears the iron cross, which Pilenz is unable to call by its name, Pilenz can feel admiration about him, sometimes even jealousy, because Mahlke is always the center. However, from those moments on, Pilenz's feelings towards Mahlke are compassion, and rejection.
Mahlke tries to be in the group of friends by being the center of attention. This attitude wakes up in Pilenz two kinds of feelings, admiration and rage, for instance, we can see this in this passage: “Of course we admired Mahlke; but in the eerie din our admiration shifted into its opposite, and we thought him so repulsive we couldn't look at him. Then as a low-lying freighter hove into view, we felt moderately sorry at him.”(72) Mahlke started to go to the new school, when expelled from the Comradinum, he, according to Pilenz, has started to change. Pilenz, who began to go to church again to be able to see Mahlke, said that from that moment on, Mahlke was changing, he was becoming fatter, he ate a lot, he became uglier, he talked more, his hair became longer.
Pilenz spends the rest of his time, till Mahlke’s end, with him. In the end when Mahlke draws into the water with the cans of food, which Pilenz had got for him. Pelenz forgets about the tin opener. When Mahlke jumps into the water, Pilenz does not go straight to look for him to give him the tin opener, he let him go, and after a while, he starts to shout: “can opener, can opener”, when maybe Mahlke has already died. After that, Pilenz spends a lot of time looking for Mahlke in the circus and when there was a meeting of veterans with the iron cross. Pelenz looking for Mahlke in the end reminds me of a chase between a cat and mouse….

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Cat and Mouse Jewish Holocaust

...to see how I got into this situation just for being a mouse. I remember coming here for the first time , the cats where separating the mice to see who was strong enough to work, who wasn’t ,separating little mice from their families. Fortunately I was strong enough to work, not that it did any good. We were all controlled by cats who never had sympathy for any mice and enjoyed beating and torturing us.When I came I saw what I thought was a big bakery ,but it was just a building where other mice were being cremated. It was like we were bread being burned in a oven. Me and other mice are slaves ,carrying big stones on our backs .If we were to drop them we would be beaten be the mighty and powerful cats who had claws that were as sharp as knifes. The claws would cut through the thin uniforms we would have to wear everyday. Some mice did try to rebel against the cats, but the cats towered over them by how big and the quantity of them. Those mice were immediately killed. Anyways, today was the same as any other day. I woke up really early, not that I have had much sleep due to sleeping in the tiniest of place with about 6 other mice. Next we were to due anything the cats said to avoid being killed. Today there wasn’t much to do, just carry heavy stones back and forth and dig big holes. We didn’t even get much to eat, you were considered lucky if you even got food. During the day, a fellow mouse told me about how the cats killed us ,the mice. He said they were to strip naked...

Words: 434 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Tenses in English

...hadn’t + V3 NV: Had + S + V3? Thì quá khứ hoàn thành tiếp diễn:  Xác định KĐ:S had been V_ing PĐ: S + hadn’t been + V-ing NV: Had + S + been V-ing - C. CÁC THÌ TƯƠNG LAI: Thì tương lai đơn :  S + shall/will V1(infinitive) Thì tương lai tiếp diễn:  S + shall/will +be V_ing Thì tương lai hoàn thành:  S + shall/will + have V3 Thì tương lai hoàn thành tiếp diễn:  S + shall/will have + been V_ing Modal verb May/ Might/ Can/ could/ should/ must… V ACTIVE VOICE  PASSIVE VOICE Active: My cat kills a mouse everyday Passive: A mouse is killed by my dog everyday CACH ĐỔI TỪ ACTIVE VOICE  PASSIVE VOICE My cat kills a mouse everyday  … B1: Xác định thì cho câu active  My cat kills a mouse everyday (thì hiện tai đơn) B2 : phân tích câu active thành 3 phần S V O My cat / kills/ a mouse/ everyday S V O  Everyday (phần dư của câu) B3: Đưa O lên làm chủ từ  A mouse B4: Lấy V  tobe V3  A mouse tobe V3 A mouse is killed...

Words: 810 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Similarities Between The Cat And The Legend Of The Chinese Zodiac

...Hi have you read the book about cat and rat The legend of the Chinese Zodiac and the story Called how cats and mice became enemies.In the story Cat and Rat the legend the Chinese Zodiac the rat in this story had betray the cat so that he can get his name on the Chinese calendar.In the other story How the Cat and Rat became enemies because the mouse ate the pumpkin boat while the cat was asleep.In these two stories the rat and mouse had betrayed the cat and in both stories the cat was asleep when the mouse and the rat betray the cat.Compare and contrasting on these two stories. In the story the Cat and Rat the Chinese Zodiac the mouse betrayed the cat by pushing him off the buffalo that was taking them to the finish line so they wouldn’t be...

Words: 475 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

How Cats And Mice Became Enemies

...Do you want to know why cats and rats/mice are enemies? Well, if you are wondering, this essay will explain is from two different stories and show how they are different. One legend is “Cat and Rat: Legend of the Chinese Zodiac” and in this story all the animals in the land are racing to have a year in the Chinese Zodiac named after them. The other story, “How Cats and Mice Became Enemies” tells about how Cat and Mouse are crossing the river and mouse accidentally sinks the boat. I’m going to compare and contrast these two books in this essay. In this paragraph I will tell you a small summary of each story. In “Cat and Rat: Legend of the Chinese Zodiac” all of the animals in the land are racing to see who will get named on the Chinese calendar...

Words: 467 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Comparing The Story 'How Cats And Mice Became Enemies'

...For as long as man has known about cats and mice, the two creatures have never got along. Cats have always been chasing and killing mice. The “Legend of Cat and Mouse and the “Story of Cats and Mice becoming enemies tell you about how they became enemies and that one time cats and mice were friends until the mouse makes cat mad. I believe that both the legend and story are more alike because they tell a similar tale, the cat is angry with the mouse and they cross a river. These both happen in both the legend and story. The legend “The Cat and Rat Legend” by Ed Young is about a race of all the animals in a kingdom. The cat and rat were once best friends until the race came. The cat and mouse got a ride over the river because they knew that...

Words: 477 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Problem Solving Stimulation

...of the river, without leaving the dog alone with the cat or the cat alone with the mouse. What the activity required me to accomplish was to get the three animals across the river without leaving the dog alone with the cat or the cat alone with the mouse. The dog and mouse were able to be left alone but the cat could not be left alone with neither, the dog or mouse. I needed to remove the cat from the situation on both sides of the river to ensure the cat was not eaten or did not eat the mouse. I tried several times to take the animals across the river one after another but then tried taking the cat out of the situation on each side so the dog and mouse were left alone. I had to take the cat across the river first. Then come back and get the dog. Once the dog was dropped off on the other side, I had to pick up the cat and take it back over to the original side of the river. Then pick up the mouse and take it to the other side. Then I had to go back over to the original side of the river and pick up the cat to take it across the river. It was difficult to understand at first but once I discovered that I could take the cat back to the original side of the river it all began to make more sense to me. As I dropped off the dog, taking the cat back to get the mouse made it where the dog and mouse were the only two animals being left alone on either side of the river. It was a lot easier to solve the problem when I realized the cat to come back to the original side of the river but before...

Words: 424 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Assignment Problem Solving Simulation

...situation I knew that the raft was only big enough for the man and one animal at a time and the cat could not be left alone with the dog or the mouse. The obstacle was to get them all on the same side. The strategies that I used were trial and error and algorithms. Trial and error is where you try different ways to come up with a solution. Algorithms are where a problem-solving method guarantees a solution if it is appropriate for the problem and is properly carried out (Morris and Maisto, p.276). At first I tried moving the cat over first and that left the dog and the mouse together, then I tried moving the dog over but of course they fought when I sent the raft back. I was not getting anywhere. So I kept going back to the text and reading over the chapter. I encountered many obstacles while solving the problem. It took me a while to figure out how to isolate the cat from the dog and the mouse because the cat was the trouble maker. Yes I was aware of this thought process but it did not come to me until the end that I could move the cat to the other side then send the raft back and get the dog and bring him to the other side. Then you have to put the cat on the raft and send the cat back to the other side where the mouse is. Take the cat off and put the mouse on and send the mouse over to the dog. Send the raft back and put the cat on the raft and send the cat over the mouse and dog. It took me I do not know how many tries but it was a fun experience. It makes you think...

Words: 430 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Week4

...correct results. The problem had a cat, dog, and a mouse that need to cross the river, but the raft will only hold two of them at a time. I knew that I couldn’t leave the mouse and cat, but also knew I couldn’t leave the dog and cat as well. So when I started the problem solving I sent the cat first, then dog and after doing this I brought the cat back then took the mouse. This seemed very easy to solve but unfortunately I knew that the cat couldn’t be left with the dog or the mouse. I realized that the cat would fight with the dog and the cat would eat the mouse as well. Once I got the problem solved I did try different strategies of how I could get each animal to cross the river in a different way, but did keep in mind that each step I tried wasn’t going to work because I couldn’t leave the cat alone with either one. These was my first steps I took the cat over first then went back to get the dog, then I realized this wouldn’t work unless I brought the cat back. Then when I brought the cat back I knew the cat and the mouse couldn’t be together as well, so then I brought the mouse over. After I solved the problem I did the opposite I brought the mouse first then realized again this wasn’t going to work do to the fact the dog and cat wouldn’t get along either so then I went back and done the first problem solving that made the most sense to me. So I crossed the river first with the cat then I crossed the river with the dog and brought the cat back across the river and then got...

Words: 424 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

What Is Mark Twain's Argument For The Damned Human Race

...task. Other than squirrels, some birds and bee also stock up for the winter. Once the squirrels have reach there supply limit, you cannot persuade them to add more. When the squirrel were present with more food the squirrels had no interest, but when present more supplies were presented to humans, they would accept even if they did not need it. In this finding, Twain was able to get people to believe that human were materialistic and squirrels only took what they needed and nothing more. To show how cruel humans really are, Mark Twain uses an example of a cat and mouse. The cat captured the mouse and tortured the mouse out of pure entertainment. In Twains argument, he argued that the cat showed no signs of having a conscious, because the cat did understand that the mouse was suffering. Twain did notice the cat did not tear the mouse skin nor did the cat rip the mouse eye out, but as soon as the cat was done play with the mouse, the ate it and put an end to the torture. Mark Twain argues that humans have a conscious and morality to know that torture of another human is wrong, but throughout history humans know it wrong but still continue it today. In the essay “The Damned Human Race”, Mark Twain showed how humans were lower than other animals. Twain argued that people do not like criticism and tried to use humor so that he would not offend anyone. Twain exposed how human were destructive without reason. People may debate that humans are the reasoning animal but his experiment prove...

Words: 701 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Problem Solving Simulation

...without making two trips across the lake with adding two animals on the raft with me. But my first expression was how anyone would be able to solve the problem without placing the two last two animals on the raft with them. What strategy did you use and how did you evaluate your progress? Well, I have thought about the situation if you take the dog across lake first; then this would leave the cat and the mouse alone on the other side. Then, if you take the cat across first then the mouse is safe on the other side. But here’s where your problem comes in at; because of the cat being on the other side it doesn’t get alone with neither dog nor the mouse. So, then this seems like the cat is the main problem of getting all three animals across the lake. This is what makes it difficult to solve. Did you encounter any obstacles while solving the problem? I’ve thought about it and I tried all three positions that I could think of to get all three animals across the river. At first I was going to take the cat across; but then when I go back to get another animal you couldn’t leave the cat with neither animal. So this is where I think the problem cannot be solved; but if you look at it the animals are together on one side of the river and their not fighting amongst each other. So I’ve come up with a conclusion...

Words: 496 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Maus Analysis

...understanding of the character’s personality and traits. They also widen the gap between the groups by showing the natural hierarchy of the animals.             The choice to use animals instead of humans was a positive addition to the story; animals were used in their most simplistic form so the traits that they were given during the time of the holocaust could be more easily understood. An illustration demonstrates this concept by having a Jewish family hiding in a bunker inside a garbage hole. Presented as mice, they were hiding in a hole underground that was filled with garbage, showing that they were cowards and dirty creatures. There is also another illustration where they are hiding from the Nazis, who are portrayed as cats, by crawling through a tunnel, like a mouse hole, to escape into another area. This also shows their sneaky and cowardly actions. Another way in which the Jewish people’s perceived personality is brought out by the nature of the rodent is shown when Vladek and his wife Anja are hiding and are in a storage locker with rats. “There are RATS, giant rats! They’re horrible!” exclaimed Anja. (pg.148, panel 5) Anja said that they were horrible and in the Nazis’ perspective the Jews were just as horrible as rodents. Between the Nazis and the Jews there...

Words: 625 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Story in Songkla Beach

...The city itself is surrounded by beaches such as Samila & Son Awn and also known as "the great city on two seas". With the beaches, some historical centres and nice green parks, this place is definitely a good battery recharge point before heading to livelier Hat Yai. Songkhla or Singgora in Malay, was a city of an old Malay Kingdom of Langkasuka with heavy Srivijayan influence. It has been under Thai suzerainty since the 18th century. Previously a port and a coastal trading post where Indian, Persian and Arab merchants came to exchange their products, this place was initially named "Sing Lha" after the 2 lion-shape islands at the mouth of the city's lake. Currently, these 2 islands are known to us as Ko Nu (Rat Island) and Ko Maeo (Cat Island). THE STATUES At Songkhla beach, the most interesting part is about the statues. One of that is dragon that was placed separately by it head, body and tail. The This Dragon Head or " Nag : as stated on the inscription plaque was constructed in 2007 and is a new attraction for Songkhla Lake . The area is part of Songkhla Municipal Song Thale Park. The dragon head is situated at the estuary entrance to Songkhla Lake. The dragon sculpture is divide to 3, one is head at the lake, the body is at the park and the tail is stretching along the side way. It symbolizes wisdom and intelligence. The Great Serpent Nag in Songkhla which located in southern Thailand at Song Thale Park, Laem Son On in Songkhla City. The Great Serpent “Nag” is...

Words: 1271 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Speak

...Rubab Rahat Kath and Mouse 1. The nickname given to Helen is Mouse. Kathryn Morris aka Kath gave her this nickname because Helen “did look like a mouse, with mouse-brown hair and small, sharp features”. Helen is called Mouse because she is very quiet, shy, and passive. She is not confident enough to confront Kath for being mean to her; instead she “ducks her head like she’s been hit”. Helen is called Mouse because she behaves like an underdog who doesn’t speak up for herself against Kath. 2. The story takes place in a school during winter, “It was about ten below zero”. The setting signifies a normal school life of the present where one meets all sorts of people; both good and bad, bullies, friends, and etc. The mood and atmosphere of the story is very intense and harsh for Helen. 3. During lunch, Helen sat on Kath’s table without an invitation. “…Helen would know she had already broken one of the most important rules. No one sat at Kath’s table without and invitation.” Kath | Helen | Kevin | * Plays oboe * Overconfident * Powerful * Insecure “…she just acted like Kath didn’t exist. Kath tried to pretend it didn’t matter, but it did.” * Arrogant * Thinks she is “the queen of the world” | * Sings * Eager to prove herself "You don't have to prove yourself, you know? I said. Maybe I want too...'' * Full of pride since she’s a terrific singer * Introverted | * Plays piano * Polite * Considerate and understanding * Sympathetic...

Words: 779 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Cat And Mice Analysis

...CAT AND RAT There are two stories one where it is a race and one where they were trying to get across the river and the theme is Cat and rat and cat and mice. my thesis is that they are both pretty similar and there are still a good amount of differences though. 1ST STORY Cat and Rat It starts off with rat asking cat to come with him on the trip and so he can be on the calendar too some traits about cat is he really doesn't like water. He doesn't like to ride on a ox but he really wants #1. He also got bribed by a rat saying there were fish in the water he isn't selfish. Rats traits are he is selfish mean and he likes to be mean to people and he wants to win all by himself. The setting is in china and always buy a river...

Words: 497 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Reaction Paper

...the criminal mouse be hung for his crime. Some of the animals that play major roles in the story are a large beetle, raccoon, and a praying mantis. The specifics of each animal in the hanging are “A raccoon, wearing the traditional black mask, was the executioner…..A large praying mantis was in charge of the religious end of the ceremonies.” (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2010) The animals during the execution had a hard time watching the mouse death. “It was all so touching that a cat, who had brought her child in her mouth, shed several large tears. They rolled down on to the child’s back and he began to squirm and shriek, so that the mother thought that the sight of the hanging had perhaps been too much for him.” (Barnet, Cain, & Burto, 2010) The large beetles were the soldiers because of their armor shells. The raccoons as executioner, because of the black mask the raccoons are made with. A praying mantis had the duty of taking charge of the religious ceremony, since they are “praying” since it is part of their name and is linked to religion. Not knowing what the mouse did criminally, he seemed remorseful. All the animals in the crowd seemed to be happy that the mouse was about to get death. The writer implies that the mouse has done something serious to get death as a penalty, but the writer does not say what the mouse crime was. The writer leaves the readers in suspense of what the mouse crime was to get death. When the Bullfrog emerged to read the verdict of the mouse, couldn’t...

Words: 760 - Pages: 4