One more on The Rabbi's Cat

I noticed that the rabbi's relationship with the cat mirrors that of his relationship with his cousin. The rabbi is dominant over his cat; the cousin dominates over the rabbi.

Specifically, the rabbi drags the cat around as he pleases (see blog regarding imperfection) and makes the final decisions regarding the cat's interactions with his mistress (the rabbi's daughter). He chooses when the cat may see her and how he will act around her. You can hang out, but don't talk, the rabbi says. At first the cat says okay; eventually the two do whisper to each other.

The rabbi's cousin pushes the rabbi into certain "decisions." When the daughter wants to marry, the cousin is the one talking to her father. He says, let her marry, she's a great young lady! He's not a bad guy, it'll be okay. Dad says, no, she's my baby. Cousin says, say yes or I'll beat you up! Rabbi: okay. Fine.

Then the cousin proceeds - and don't just say yes. Be nice. It's a shame, because I noted a change of character in the daughter after her engagement. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but she seems more superficial. She worries about her dress and pressures her husband-to-be to buy her shoes. Is she just trying to "look more French," or is that just a cover?

Whatever it is, it made me think of the masks in the Maus series. Vladek wants to seem more Polish, wants to seem more German... so he just wears a mask. The beauty of cartoons is that we don't worry about where he acquired the mask. Did he make it out of things from the camps? No, it's just the way he talks or the subtle mannerisms that make, for example, an American an American.

My aunt and I were talking and she said that if we went to a foreign country people would spot us as Americans a mile away! I said, "What are you talking about?" And she said it's the way we walk, the confidence with which we approach strangers, our manner of talking -- that mark us as Americans.