Maus is a frame story, which is a story inside a story. In German, "Maus" means mouse. The author chose this name because the main subject is about The Holocaust. The Holocaust was an era that will never be forgotten because of the scar it left. Vladek Spiegelman is the main character in this book because he explains to his son, Art, his survivor story. Art Spiegelman wrote this book because he wanted the world to know The Holocaust in a different perspective.
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Lesson gained
In Maus, an insight that I gained was the way to treat others. The Holocaust was produced due to Hitler seeing different people as enemies. He never applied the Golden Rule . I love this rule because this is how society should work. During The Holocaust, not even the richest Jew would get away without suffering. For example, "He was a millionaire but even this didn't save him his life" (Spiegelman 117), shows how Anja's father died. Throughout the book, Vladek tells Artie how Anja's father had many friends inside and outside the camps. Most of these "friends" were bought but since Anja's father was too aged, they could not help him. Vladek was loosing things to trade while time passed because conditions were getting harder. By conditions I mean food supply and children. In their houses, German children were taught to suspect anyone as a Jew.
For instance, "A JEW! A JEW! HELP! MOMMY! A JEW!" (Spiegelman 155), demonstrates how a regular German kid would react. Luckily for Vladek, he learned how to deal these situations. During some side conversations, Vladek tells Artie how to survive, a Jew needed luck. People say how a person that is bullied becomes the bully. Well in Maus, Vladek is like the one being bullied. The Germans treated him so bad that later on when The Holocaust ended, he started to be the "bully". Vladek says, "A COLORED GUY, A SHIVARTSER! PUSH QUICK ON THE GAS!"( Spiegelman 258), demonstrates how Vladek started to discriminate. Everyone is equal, therefore, everyone should be treated equally. I do not judge Vladek for doing that because The Holocaust made him doubt others that he did not trust.
For instance, "A JEW! A JEW! HELP! MOMMY! A JEW!" (Spiegelman 155), demonstrates how a regular German kid would react. Luckily for Vladek, he learned how to deal these situations. During some side conversations, Vladek tells Artie how to survive, a Jew needed luck. People say how a person that is bullied becomes the bully. Well in Maus, Vladek is like the one being bullied. The Germans treated him so bad that later on when The Holocaust ended, he started to be the "bully". Vladek says, "A COLORED GUY, A SHIVARTSER! PUSH QUICK ON THE GAS!"( Spiegelman 258), demonstrates how Vladek started to discriminate. Everyone is equal, therefore, everyone should be treated equally. I do not judge Vladek for doing that because The Holocaust made him doubt others that he did not trust.
The unsurp
assed Maus was a great book due to one reason. Artie demonstrated all of the different cultures by using different animals. The author drew The Jewish as mice, to show that they were innocent, that they did not even fight or they were not as cruel as The Nazis. The Nazis were drawn in the book as cats because cats eat mice just as The Nazis killed the Jews. The Polish people were drawn as pigs because they were dirty people who sometimes were also cruel, but innocent and helpful.
Many Polish helped the Jews when they were hiding because they would give them food and shelter. For example, "Well..I guess you can stay. But, remember: I don't know your here!" (Spiegelman 147), shows how a Polish lady helped Vladek. The Americans are represented by dogs because dogs usually scare the cats away because the dogs appear to be stronger than them. The United States helped scare away the "cats" by destroying the concentration camps. I liked the how the animals represented the different countries because these detail made it into an excellent book.
Many Polish helped the Jews when they were hiding because they would give them food and shelter. For example, "Well..I guess you can stay. But, remember: I don't know your here!" (Spiegelman 147), shows how a Polish lady helped Vladek. The Americans are represented by dogs because dogs usually scare the cats away because the dogs appear to be stronger than them. The United States helped scare away the "cats" by destroying the concentration camps. I liked the how the animals represented the different countries because these detail made it into an excellent book.
The inadequate
As many people know, no one is perfect and neither is a book. A thing that I felt was not right was how Artie treated his father. Vladek always wanted Artie to be at his side but Artie would reject him. For instance on pg. 161, in the second foreground panel, Vladek says, "You should visit here more often.. Don't be such a stranger", demonstrating how Vladek wants to spend time with Artie. Artie then says, "Sure... you! So long", telling the reader that he too wants to visit. However, in the next panel Artie says, "... murderer", which makes a plot twist. Throughout the story, Artie seems to treat his father harshly. I would have not liked Artie if it were not for the comic he put in the book. On pgs. 102- 105, Artie explains the pain he feels in the comic that he wrote before the book. Maus had some flaws but did not change its overall image.
Panels with most impact
In Maus, the panel that had a most impact was the one on pg. 59. The mid-ground panel is a bleed and shows how important it is to Vladek. The man in the robe happened to be his dead grandfather. Vladek was having a dream on about how he would eventually get out of all the workload on the day of Parshas Truma. His grandfather said, " You will come out of this place- free!.. on the day of Parshas Truma." Parshas Truma is a very important day for the Jews and that is what helped Vladek have hope. Since the background is black, the reader is attracted to the grandfather and Vladek. Vladek has no graphic weight to demonstrate how he is very sick and his grandfather is healing him. The hat, piece on the grandfather's head and graphic weight add to a healer figure.
Overall impression
My overall impression on Maus was, "Wow, this book was good." I had never read any graphic novel in my life and I expected it to be boring. I actually do not reading comic books because I think that they are weird, but Maus changed my perspective. I really liked how the author included side conversations because it kept it real. Vladek's memories seemed quite impossible, but luck was needed in The Holocaust to survive. The fact that Artie could fit Vladek's experience and their side conversations made it into a great book. Artie made a book full of symbols that created an interesting ending.
Thanks for reading!!! :)