Analysis Of The Book 'Maus'

710 Words2 Pages

The story "Maus" is written in a rather unconventional way because it is written in a graphical novel format. This format tends to grasp the attention of those from a younger audience. However, since the story is about the Holocaust many critics think that it may have not been written in the right format. The author Art Spiegelman wrote it in this form not to make light of the situation but also not to make it seem like any other kind of Holocaust format. Which is sometimes considered boring and the viewers it draws attention too are those of an older age. The format of "Maus" is an effective way of telling a Holocaust narrative because it gives Art Spiegelman the chance to expresses his father 's story without disrespecting him at the same It shows this through its comic book style drawings on a topic that is difficult to explain. With the illustration throughout the story it shows the true meaning of a picture is worth a thousand words. Compared to any other type of Holocaust book it would be hard for a person who did not go through the Holocaust to understand what was taking place during that time. Most books are just written, no images. It is just a plain book with many descriptions. Unlike those "Maus" took on another type of perception. Humans have the ability to understand and reason things but with all of that it is hard to understand the extent of the Holocaust through just words. So Art decided to included drawings in a comic book form to allow readers to understand what was going on without having to imagine it. His book allowed its readers to see what was taking place while reading it. That is what the main difference is compared to other narratives. Also, his use of symbolism allowed the reading to understand what was going on without drawings of humans but animals. An example of this was the Nazis being represented by cats and the Jews represented as mice. In reality we know that the cat always tries to kill the mouse. During that time Jews were the pest to societies and the Nazis had to fix that. Also, with this in reality it is normal for a cat

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Maus: The Horrors Of The Holocaust

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story Maus is a graphic novel about a son Artie interviewing his father Vladek because Vladek survived the Holocaust. Vladek is explaining to Artie what his life was like during the Holocaust for him and his family. Vladek was the only one left still alive during this time to tell the story to Artie. The story has many different links to the history of the Holocaust and helps readers understand the horrible facts these families had to face. Since it is from the perspective of someone who lived through it, it helps the reader understand really just what was going on in this time. The graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman offers the modern reader a unique window showing the horrors and the history of the Holocaust and its repercussions by the differences of Vladek’s past and present, the value of luck, guilt that Artie and Vladek felt, and the mice characters being a representation during this time of racism.

    Read More

  • A Picture is worth a Thousand Words: The use of Animal Allegory in Maus

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    The graphic novels Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman possess the power to make the reader understand the pain and suffering that takes place during the Holocaust. Spiegelman uses animals instead of humans in his graphic novels to represent the different races of people. The use of visual mediums in Art Spiegelman’s Maus enhances the reading of the narrative. The graphics throughout the novel help the reader fully understand everything that is happening.

    Read More

  • Differences Between Maus And How It Feels To Be Colored Me By Zora Neale Hursas

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the history of this world, there have been many important events that have changed how we see things. In the novels Maus written by Art Spiegalman and How It Feels to Be Colored Me written by Zora Neale Hurston discuss some of these events. Both authors use their experiences from the past to show racial differences, the mistreatment of humans, and injustices. While being a college dropout Art Spiegalman found himself to be very creative in making graphic comics. Art Spiegalman is the son of a Polish Jew who survived the holocaust, his mother survived as well but committed suicide when Art was twenty years old. Maus I and II is more of a personal story with events that occurred before and after the holocaust and is being

    Read More

  • The Consequences Of Dehumanization In A Lesson Before Dying

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meaning, there are more verbal, written representations of people being dehumanized than in Maus. In Maus, it is more symbolic and descriptive in the way that Spieglman drew his characters. Both authors were very effective in using the theme of dehumanization within the stories. It really made the readers look at situations that they thought they knew about from a different perspective. It was heart wrenching to hear about how terrible humans treated each other in both stories.

    Read More

  • Maus

    411 Words  | 1 Pages

    Maus is one of the most famous of recent graphic novels. Winner of the prestigious Pulitzer prize for literature, it's the harrowing true story of a Jewish holocaust survivor, retold to his son decades later.

    Read More

  • Maus I: My Father Bleeds History By Art Spiegelman

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maus expresses guilt on both an individual and collective form. Many survivors form a sense of guilt because they start to feel guilt for surviving when millions were murdered in camps that they survived. Art’s father Vladek suffers from survival guilt and somehow always finds a way to connect everything with the Holocaust along with his parenting with Art. After Vladek tells his son of how he met and fell in love with his mother, he is quick to say how he wouldn’t want him to write such thing in his novel about the Holocaust. He feels it would be improper and disrespectful to the event. This shows how he feels he is responsible for the Holocaust being given respect because he guilts his survival and feels a responsibility to t...

    Read More

  • Night By Elie Wiesel And Maus Analysis

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane Yolen once said: “Fiction cannot recite the numbing numbers, but it can be that witness, that memory.” Preserving the memories of the horrifying incidents of the Holocaust is the best way to ensure nothing like it ever occurs again. Authors use their novels to try and pass these memories down through generations. Examples of this are the novels Night by Elie Wiesel, and MAUS by Art Spiegelman. The main discussion in these novels revolves around the Holocaust and the violence against Jews. Both have captivating stories and are worthy of recognition, but MAUS is a better novel for educating students. This is because unlike Night it discusses the familial guilt faced by the families of Holocaust survivors. In addition, MAUS gives a visual

    Read More

  • Vladek Spiegelman Character Analysis

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    From Hitler throughout the Holocaust, Maus the graphic novel has brought a story of a survivor, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew. Vladek has been there when the Swastika was a symbol of well-being and the goods. From the start of World War II and sustained until the war ended. Vladek survived the war because of luckiness, after that, being resourceful was the reason he lived. Lost his first born son in the process, moved to the United States. Lost his wife and lived with a fear it might happen all over again, he is a survivor of the Holocaust.

    Read More

  • Writing Techniques in Art Spiegelman's Maus and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

    1986 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Maus, Art Spiegelman does not make any apologies about what he includes or leaves out from his story. Maus is not meant to be a story that encompasses World War II or the Holocaust, but rather, a story about the life of his father, Vladek Spiegelman:

    Read More

  • Use of Animals in Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Maus series of books tell a very powerful story about one man’s experience in the Holocaust. They do not tell the story in the conventional novel fashion. Instead, the books take on an approach that uses comic windows as a method of conveying the story. One of the most controversial aspects of this method was the use of animals to portray different races of people. The use of animals as human races shows the reader the ideas of the Holocaust a lot more forcefully than simply using humans as the characters.

    Read More

  • Holocaust

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    These three pieces can teach you that there is more to the story of the Holocaust than the Nazi’s and the killers. There are tales of the people who spoke out, and the people who were actually genuine people deep down, despite what there were labeled as. I’ve learned that there were people who weren’t all that bad hat were part of the Nazi party. Just because they were wearing the Nazi uniform didn’t mean they were bad. It was really touching and inspiring to hear the stories about those who voiced their opinions and did something right during these “wrong” times.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Efficiency of a Graphic Novel portraying a Holocaust Narrative

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    During 1925, Mein Kampf was published by the Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler. In this autobiography, where Nazi racist ideas originated, he depicted his struggle with the Jews in Germany. These ideas sparked World War 2 and the Genocide of the Jews. The tragedy of the Holocaust inspired authors, such as Art Spiegelman who produced a Graphic novel, where both the text and images helped him convey his own ideas and messages. In fact, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus is an effective medium for telling a Holocaust narrative and specifically his father’s story of survival. Through this medium, he is able to captivate the readers while providing interesting insight into the tragedy of the Holocaust by using the symbols of animals, the contrast between realism and cartoon imagery and the various basic elements of a graphic novel.

    Read More

  • Essay On Vladek Spiegelman

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Complete Maus, by Art Spiegelman, a son of the Holocaust survivor, Art Spiegelman, learns the story of his father, Vladek Spiegelman. Art Spiegelman learns the causes of why his father acts the way he does and the reason for the eccentric nature he has. Although Vladek Spiegelman physically survives the Holocaust, his actions show that he is psychologically affected by his experience in the camps.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Complete Maus, by Art Spiegelman

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    When reading a traditional book, it is up to the reader to imagine the faces and landscapes that are described within. A well written story will describe the images clearly so that you can easily picture the details. In Art Spiegelman’s The Complete Maus, the use of the animals in place of the humans offers a rather comical view in its simplistic relation to the subject and at the same time develops a cryptic mood within the story. His drawings of living conditions in Auschwitz; expressions on the faces of people enduring torture, starvation, and despair; his experience with the mental institution and his mother’s suicide; and occasional snapshots of certain individuals, create a new dynamic between book and reader. By using the form of the graphic novel, Art Spiegelman created a narrative accompanied by pictures instead of needing to use immense worded detail.

    Read More

  • The Comic Format of Spiegelman's Books Maus I and Maus II

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    The books Maus I and Maus II, written by Art Spiegelman over a thirteen-year period from 1978-1991, are books that on the surface are written about the Holocaust. The books specifically relate to the author’s father’s experiences pre and post-war as well as his experiences in Auschwitz. The book also explores the author’s very complex relationship between himself and his father, and how the Holocaust further complicates this relationship. On a deeper level the book also dances around the idea of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. The two books are presented in a very interesting way; they are shown in comic form, which provides the ability for Spiegelman to incorporate numerous ideas and complexities to his work.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Book 'Maus'

Open Document