Maus and Of Mice and Men

George, a man living during the depression era with no family, all he has is a mentally handicapped friend. Vladek, another man living with his family during the holocaust, hiding to save their lives, to survive the atrocities of the Nazis, and to remain together as a family. All of this sounds so different, that there is nothing in common between the two men in these stories. Yet, I saw similarities between each character and the situations they were in. There is plenty of material to compare both characters from Maus and Of Mice and Men to each other, myself, and similar themes that may be deduced through psychoanalytic criticism of the characters.

I chose to use George Milton from Of Mice and Men and Vladek Spiegleman from Maus because I appreciated each story. I was interested in the fact that George, a man with no actual connection to Lenny, would choose to stay with him after so many complications and hardships. Especially since these predicaments were caused by Lenny’s actions. Maus Caught my attention at first because it was about the holocaust, but then I discovered it was written in an unusual style. This made me want to read it to find out how the author addressed the heinousness of that time in comic book style. I came to admire the way it was done, it did not show the violence, but it was still powerful. These men are intriguing in different ways; they both have much to offer to those around them. One thing that caught my attention is that both men were in such different circumstances, and yet they both prevailed in making the most with what they had. They both endure tragedy, through different means, in their lives.

George and Vladek have much in common with each other; they share many similarities, and yet a...

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...hese two stories, much less these two characters, we see that there are common threads between the two. George and Vladek are different men living in different times, but they both share important aspects of their lives. We also learn that characters are relative; readers often share facets of their own personalities with the characters they are reading about, no matter when or where the story is taking place. Themes can also be shared between stories and characters that are distinctly different from each other. After all is said and done, there are many similarities between George, Vladek, myself and the themes of Of Mice and Men and Maus.

References

Sinise, G. (Producer), & Sinise, G. (Director). (1992). Of mice and men [Motion picture]. United States: Metro – Goldwyn - Mayer.

Spiegleman, A. (1986). Maus: A survivor's tale. New York, New York: Pantheon Books.