The Complete MAUS: Homework Task
1. What did you think was the message of the book? Why? Make reference to details from the book in your answer.
The author clearly states in the graphic novel that “I-I never thought of reducing it to a message I mean. I wasn’t trying to CONVICE anybody of anything.” Spiegelman represents a struggle to create meaning out of both the Holocaust and what happened to his father afterwards. Art says to Francoise at one point: “I can’t even make any sense of out my relationship with my father...How am I supposed to make any sense out of Auschwitz?...of the holocaust?” (p. 174). This graphic novel is really just him trying to convey and document his father’s story in the easiest way for him, which is through the medium of comics.
2. Describe both Art and his father. What do you learn about each of them as characters? Why is their relationship so fraught?
Both Art and Vladek are very distant from one another. There is a lot of tension, mostly coming from Vladek’s compulsive behavior and strange actions which annoy Art. His actions are very hard for Art to comprehend as he did not experience what his father did during the holocaust. The impact horrific events such as the Holocaust had on his life ultimately affected him and his relationships with other individuals this could be due to being distant from family and friend for so long, and in that situation everyone only looked out for themselves. Finally Art stated “I can’t even make any sense of out my relationship with my father...How am I supposed to make any sense out of Auschwitz?...of the holocaust? “
3. What do you think the novel shows about the concepts of;
• Survival
Firstly Vladek experience survivor’s guilt, this is how he witnessed so many de...
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...chapter, and particularly the final page? Why did Spiegelman close the book in this manner?
The final chapter was one of the most personal chapters, this is particularly evident on the final page as Vladek does not want to continue the story, it is symbolic of the end of the story by putting his to tomb stone showing the end of his life. This ultimately shows he story didn’t end until he died. Also in the final chapter he put an actual picture of himself which sort of brings the book back to reality showing that it is real. Spiegelman closed the book in this manner to again show how personal the experience were and how much they impact him and his family.
7. Did the book raise any other questions or ideas for you? What were these?
It didn’t really raise any questions that can’t already be answered,
• Even though the Nazis were told to do it why would they do it?
I believe the most important concept that I gained from reading the book was to remain faithful, in good times and in bad. Walking blindly can be very terrifying, but God always has a plan for each and every one of us. At times, the plan remains unseen, and that should not deter or slow me on the path that my heart is yearning
the author, Louis L'Amour, just ended it so that he could meet his deadline. Basically that
I think that the messages this book displays are important for anyone to think about, and apply to their lives every day.
The climax of this book is when Violet Klaus and Sunny are walking to the taxi parting with Mr. Poe. This is the climax of the book because this was the highest point of interest and appeal. The author, Lemony Snicket, uses details and delays the end to an extent where you become very anxious to read the story.
What do you think the writer wants his/her readers to think and/or do after reading this book?
Typically, a novel contains four basic parts: a beginning, middle, climax, and the end. The beginning sets the tone for the book and introduces the reader to the characters and the setting. The majority of the novel comes from middle where the plot takes place. The plot is what usually captures the reader’s attention and allows the reader to become mentally involved. Next, is the climax of the story. This is the point in the book where everything comes together and the reader’s attention is at the fullest. Finally, there is the end. In the end of a book, the reader is typically left asking no questions, and satisfied with the outcome of the previous events. However, in the novel The Things They Carried the setup of the book is quite different. This book is written in a genre of literature called “metafiction.” “Metafiction” is a term given to fictional story in which the author makes the reader question what is fiction and what is reality. This is very important in the setup of the Tim’s writing because it forces the reader to draw his or her own conclusion about the story. However, this is not one story at all; instead, O’Brien writes the book as if each chapter were its own short story. Although all the chapters have relation to one another, when reading the book, the reader is compelled to keep reading. It is almost as if the reader is listening to a “soldier storyteller” over a long period of time.
At the beginning of the Spiegelman’s narrative, Vladek and Art are completely disconnected from each other. They lack the conventional relationship between a father and son. There is no sense of understanding between the two, as if they had been strangers for their whole lives. Even from his childhood, Art experienced a sort of brutality and lack of understanding from his father, displayed in the small cartoon before Maus 1 begins. In this small comic, Art recreates a moment in his childhood when his father yelled at him for crying about his friends leaving him, shouting, “Friends? Your Friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week then you could see what it is, friends...
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
These issues are shown from beginning to end and in many instances show the complexity of the father-son relationship that was affected from the Holocaust. Even though this relationship gets better by the end of the second book, Vladek’s and Artie’s relationship remains tenuous for the majority of the book. This begins at the very beginning when Artie’s friends leave him behind when they were skating and Artie goes to his father crying and Vladek says, “Friends? Your friends? If you lock them in a room with no food for a week THEN you see what it is Friends” (Spiegelman 6).
In Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the audience is led through a very emotional story of a Holocaust survivor’s life and the present day consequences that the event has placed on his relationship with the author, who is his son, and his wife. Throughout this novel, the audience constantly is reminded of how horrific the Holocaust was to the Jewish people. Nevertheless, the novel finds very effective ways to insert forms of humor in the inner story and outer story of Maus. Although the Holocaust has a heart wrenching effect on the novel as a whole, the effective use of humor allows for the story to become slightly less severe and a more tolerable read.
By means of comic illustration and parody, Art Spiegelman wrote a graphic novel about the lives of his parents, Vladek and Anja, before and during the Holocaust. Spiegelman’s Maus Volumes I and II delves into the emotional struggle he faced as a result of his father’s failure to recover from the trauma he suffered during the Holocaust. In the novel, Vladek’s inability to cope with the horrors he faced while imprisoned, along with his wife’s tragic death, causes him to become emotionally detached from his son, Art. Consequently, Vladek hinders Art’s emotional growth. However, Art overcomes the emotional trauma his father instilled in him through his writing.
By the end of the book, Art has managed to write 2 detailed stories in only 300 pages. By using the graphics to enhance the details, you get so much more from Maus. A turbulent and emotional ride all the way to the end, Art’s emotional and scarred life, Vladek’s horrific and painful experiences and the last image of Vladek’s gravestone, buried next to his wife Anja, you know that Vladek is finally at peace with the woman he loved to near death and back and the son he did not get enough time to know.
Art Spiegelman's Maus II is a book that tells more than the story of one family's struggle to live thought the Holocaust. It gives us a look into the psyche of a survivor's child and how the Holocaust affected him and many other generations of people who were never there at all. Maus II gives the reader a peek into the psyche of Art Spiegelman and the affects of having two parents that survived the Holocaust had on him. Spiegelman demonstrates the affects of being a survivor's child in many ways throughout the book. Examining some of these will give us a better understanding of what it was like to be a part of the Holocaust.
The last chapter, ’Karenin’s Smile’, is counting up to Karenin’s death, while ‘between the lines’, Tereza and Tomas dies. Their death is outweighed by their dog’s death and its funeral. This shows how humanity seems to be condemned by their moral actions towards animals, the ‘test’ mentioned above.
the end of the novel as both the women in his life have other men at