Maus Text Response

Maus Text Response Essay Samara Sewak 9E4

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus, includes several features that provide us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival as well as the difficult and often conflicting relationship between Art and his father. Visual imagery is a powerful device that allows us to see and decipher people's emotions and body language. Written text is another strong feature that allows us to understand what and how something is being said and provides us with a deeper understanding of what is happening. The shifting between the past and present allows us to compare how Vladek acted during the Holocaust to after. Many of Vladek’s traits crucial for survival during the Holocaust became an annoyance in his old

An example of this was when Vladek, Polish and the Jew passengers saw a swastika flag from the window of a train. We can see their different reactions to the same image and this provides us with an understanding of how they are feeling. The use of visual imagery also provides us with an insight into Vladek and Art’s relationship. From the visual imagery, we can see how Vladek and Art treat each other. For example, when Vladek’s favourite plate is broken after it has been dropped, Vladek is initially angry at Art. A while later, when Vladek and Art are talking about something else, we can still see the frown on Vladek’s face. Although Vladek doesn’t say anything, we know he is still bitter about the broken plate. This shown from the deep frown on his face. Art, is obviously annoyed by the way Vladek is acting, as the broken plate wasn’t his fault. Vladek carries out his anger on Art, and this works to create a conflicting relationship between them. The use of visual imagery adds an extra dimension to the story and shows us information that would not otherwise be conveyed through, such as the body language of the characters and their reactions to certain events in the

The shift between the past and present also allows us to compare how Vladek acted during the Holocaust and developed traits such as not throwing anything away and how these things became his weaknesses in this old age as he was considered miserly. The way Vladek’s strengths as a young man became his weaknesses as an old man is clearly displayed through the shifting timelines. The way Vladek survived the holocaust was from being resourceful and not wasting anything, especially food. This was shown more than one time, including when Art was over at Vladek’s place and Vladek was obsessed with Art finishing everything on his plate, as he knew what it felt like to be extremely hungry and did not like the idea of food being wasted. This trait, although extremely useful during the holocaust had become a weakness for Vladek as an old man as his obsession with not wasting anything annoyed everyone, particularly those close to him such as Mala and Art. It affected his relationship with Art and often resulted in conflicts. This is clearly displayed through the shift between past and