1) We all have seen movies, read books, and heard stories about the Holocaust. How does Maus compare to other Holocaust-related media that you have seen? Does the comic book format make you feel more or less attached to the story? Did you have any preconceived notions about the book or about the Holocaust that were disproven by the time you reached the end? Would you read another Holocaust comic book? (other than Maus II)
2) There are moments of this book that are extremely emotional and heartbreaking. Is there any one frame or combination of frames that you feel is especially effective at portraying the mood of the scene? Or, any one frame that you feel just works well as a work of art? Can you think of a moment or a scene which works only in comic book form, or would not be as effective in movie or book form?
3) The entire book is set up so that each chapter represents a single day of Art and Vladek visiting each other. Why do you think that Art frames the story in this way? Why do you think that Art on the last page calls his father a "murderer" for burning his mother's diaries? Why do you think so soon after this outburst, everything is seemingly back to normal? There is a scene where Mala and Art are talking about Vladek and Mala angrily says, "All our friends went through the camps. Nobody is like him!" How much of Vladek's personality do you think was irreparably changed by the war and why do you think he is the way that he is today?
I don’t think I’ve ever read a personal documentary of someones life experience through the holocaust. So this is my first encounter hearing a first person point of view of how they survived. The only previous knowledge I had of how they lived was only the generalized things, no food, hiding in bunkers deportation etc. This comic is literally showing more details of how they survived then I even knew about. This is also a more relatable way of understanding their story then watching a documentary. As I read the comic my imagination is filling in more gaps of what the drawings aren’t showing. The vague representation here is more fulfilling then seeing even live footage of any of these events. Although, having seen real photos of Auschwitz, those images linger as well. So my mind is merging the comic’s illustrations with the real images giving a more enticing experience. I am really enjoying this comic. I don’t want to put it down.
ReplyDeleteThere is a particular frame that sticks out in my mind. For text reference, it’s page76. When Vladek comes home and we are viewing the dinning table from outside the house, peering through the window. The entire family is at his father-in-laws place and that initial freeze frame is then broken down into smaller frames explaining who is sitting next to who. I just thought it was a beautiful way to show character relationships and how they all intertwine. Maybe this is Vladek’s vision in his head that we are seeing or it is Spiegelman’s. It’s hard to tell.
I’m sure we can dissect initial reason frames are divided up by the different days Art visits Vladek. But a simple answer is it feels natural. We learn Vladek’s story at the same pace Art did. It just feels like a natural way to break up the frames.
I have to say I feel the same exact way, Jessica. I haven't really heard or seen a personal documentary, I thought the comic showed a lot more and induced a lot more feelings than any documentary could have done.
DeleteI’ve come across a lot of Holocaust material throughout my schooling, and somehow Maus feels the least threatening. I guess the reader is granted a comfortable distance from the subject matter, and this is achieved by A) the frame narrative and B) the setup of the comic where we jump back and forth from the memories of the Holocaust to the father and son interview. Honestly I felt like the moment anything gets really intense we’re granted a “break” where we’re back with Vladek being comically (or uncomfortably) fussy about everything. Compared to other materials I’ve been exposed to, the actual accounts have an almost editorial style—really objective, not really embellished or dramatized for emotional effect.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there were a few panels that were particularly jarring and I think it was very artfully done—a flash of lighting kind of effect—with a jagged, darker style. On page 81 for example (maybe a different page in a different edition) in the panel where the mother is clutching her child saying she won’t give him up to live with strangers it feels very powerful and conflicting because Spiegelman chose to really hollow out her eyes, giving her a look of frenzy and madness that is really dramatized compared to the smoother, more cartoonish figures on the page. This nightmarish drawing style occurs again on page 84 with the hanged figures.
The hanging scene was particularly jarring of course—stylistically he chose to make it a huge panel that takes up the entire page. Save for the faces, these are drawn in a really realistic style and in the two panels at the bottom the shoes are particularly eerie, because our brain fills in the figure as a human, not a cartoon.
I agree, many of the frames that show intense emotions through the expressions of the mice are very moving. This made me think of the "masking" effect McCloud talks about in Understanding Comics (although I am not sure if this would be the correct term for what Spiegelman does here). By not showing such intense emotions all of the time, I think this really makes them stand out in the frames where Spiegelman is trying to convey a particularly strong emotion.
DeleteI haven't spent much time on works dedicated to the Holocaust, so I really don't have much of a background to compare Maus with. The comic book setting actually makes me feel more drawn in.
ReplyDeleteThe panel that sticks out most in my mind is the panel of Anja's father screaming as he realizes that he can't be saved from his situation. This combined with the statement about Haskel taking his jewels but refusing to save him caused me a surprising amount of frustration.
Vladek's tendency to horde and his frequent outbursts are clearly the result of having to scrape and gather to survive a horrible situation. I feel for him, as he clearly tries to cope with what happened by gathering things which he believes to be useful, much in the same way that survivors of the Great Depression did. I also feel for him in that it seems that his family does not seem interested in helping him recover. In many places, this comic makes it seem as though the only reason Art is in contact with his father is for what he can gain from Vladek's story.
Surprisingly, I felt very attached to the story. I have read the book in it's entirety during the holidays and felt haunted by this story. I thought that a comic story of the holocaust could only be a farce, and thought it would have to be offensive. I found it to be the exact opposite. This story is riveting and hard to put down, and when you do put it down it stays with you like lingering pipe smoke.
ReplyDeleteVladek's burning of the diaries is very unfortunate, but considering the circumstances of his wife's demise it is understandable, as well as Art's reaction to the burning. Vladek is burning the memories that are too painful to face, and for Art this is the last surviving scrap of his mother - his last connection. This is a poignant scene and better explains his later reaction to his father in Maus II.
Earlier in the book Vladek doesn't seem to be an incredible skinflint to use an antiquated phrase. I believe that while he was cautious, his hording is the result of his war time experience. Only by being cautious and thrifty did he manage to save himself an Anja from the Nazis for as long as he did. If he would have listened to others though he might have never been to the camp, and if others would have listened to him their son might have survived the war also. Tons of might have beens; he can only react upon what he knows and that is because I always had a plan both Anja and I survived Auschwitz. When so many died there, he was able to keep his head and get them both out, but at a price. He never trusted that he would be truly free again, and if he was there was no guarantee that another holocaust could not happen again. He was always going to be prepared. If anyone hears stories of their grandparents or great grandparents that survived the Depression years many had similar stories. My own grandmother would take sugar and sweet-n-low packets from restaurants, my father has every screw we ever removed from something, old lawn mower parts, clothes from 1965, nothing is gotten rid of because it could be useful. Vladek is really no different from those people. In the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, "As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again." In our society we cannot know or understand what it is to be hungry, why our grandparents demanded that we finish what is on our plates...they knew what true hunger really was. So let us not judge Vladek too harshly, we cannot truly understand his motivations.
Actually I haven't seen a whole lot of Holocaust stories in books or movies. But the medium does help out the story a great deal. You couldn't film this story with the same result since you'd lose the simple characters and emotion filled gritty world Spiegelman illustrates for us. A novel would also lose this entirely. I think the charm of the book is the fact that it's so visual on a topic nobody wants to really look back on, but almost anyone can read with such a simple manner. I would read another Holocaust comic if I found one that was clearly different than Maus. I hate it when creators make carbon copies of other comics and call it their own. (Persepolis gets this a lot more than Maus does, but Maus still gets enough to where it's annoying enough that you need to double check reviews and such before considering a read)
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I read Maus 1 when the book is working you up to the concentration camps for so long, as we along with Art are stuggling to know the truth, and Vladek's story finally brings us to the scene when he looks out from the bus and sees the huge Nazi flag for the first time. Now whenever I think of Maus I think of that horrifying image. It's so startling since we know what it means, and we know as readers we are finally getting down to it, and the bad stuff is coming at you like a truck. This is only effective as a comic since I as a reader could sit back and just bask in the fear he created in that image. Comics break time and allow the reader to control the action's pace, so as the omnipotent reader I could utilize that and just let the emotions he built up have their time to sink in completely before moving on.
I think it's a brilliant way to tell the story, but I hate it when other creators steal it nowadays since I consider it to be completely Spiegelman's. Even if someone had an amazing story to tell but used his developed formula, it would still just be second to the real creator of that story, which was Maus. Inspiration from another source doesn't justify replacing content. Anyway I'm kind of off topic so I'll get back into your story questions.
I think that Vladek's personality is partially based on his PTSD and partially on his immensely stubborn personality. He can do something strange or even irrational like destroy his first wife's diary by responding to his stress and wanting to destroy the memories of such an awful history, and back it all up with his stubborn nature and unwillingness to listen to reason. He needs to be in control and doesn't seem to understand that he should explain himself to anyone. When talking about his past, he will frequently cut off the story and talk about something completely irrelevant to get off topic. It's really sad what's happened to him over time and how he's gotten to this point in his life.
Compared to other stories in other mediums of the Holocaust that I've read or seen, Maus left as much of an impact on me. The amount of tragedy involved with any of these stories is usually overwhelming. The comic book format makes it easier to stop and reflect on each event. It might be difficult to process the number of sad things that happen in the story if it wasn't divided and organized into static moments.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how many different ways Vladek and Anja had to find to survive and still they ended up being sent to the prison camp.
The way Maus is written, in my opinion, groups sets of frames by conversational topic between Vladek and Artie. Each important memory Vladek has is separated by quips and father-son banter between Vladek and Artie in the 'present' time being represented when Artie is hearing the story. Because of this form of arrangement, I think a sequence separated by captioned narration or flashforwards to the actual conversation between Artie and Vladek could have value as stand alone works of art. One example of this would be the comic-within-a-comic about Artie's mother's suicide.
I can see how some of the cleverness of the ordering of the sequences of events could be lost if Maus were adapted to film or animation. Also some of the impact of certain moments could be lost. There would have to be editing of certain scenes and dialogue that in moving pictures would seem redundant unless there was a constant narration or voice over which can be distracting.
I’ve seen many Holocaust films and read many novels growing up and this graphic novel was probably the most hands-on. The story of Maus is a direct retelling of everything his father described transformed into a format that may look simple and cartoonish, but extends further than any other form of self expression I have seen. The images drawn are sorrowful and deep. The most heart-wrenching image was the one of the young boy killed for screaming. A story expressed in this way sort of deepens the meaning of the story by softening the punch of the presentation. Yeah, they are mice, but there is a much deeper meaning to this choice. This story greatly personalizes the experience of being a Jewish person having to deal with the Holocaust. I was somewhat terrified of the situation even though it was simply a story. Getting to see the personal life of these characters, I was able to place myself into their shoes and understand what could of possibly gone through their heads. A movie would not be able to put this much detail into that form. A film would cut so much from the story leaving out the stuff that makes this story whole.
ReplyDeleteLike at the top section, I felt that the scene with the child death was emotional. The scene where Anja was completely broken about hearing that her son has dead. That was something that really tore me up inside especially after learning of her suicide. I believe that the reasoning behind sticking in his personal interaction of talking with his father in the story was because it put us in the same boat as Art. We learned things as he did. The whole experience of talking with his father and learning what him and his mother went through exposed a side of his family he never knew. Finding out his father burned his mother’s diaries was like finding out his father killed the last living remnant of his mother. The way his father acts, the reasoning for his personality today was his age. What I hear when you get old is that you focus on things in your past that made you the most emotional. Thinking back on the Holocaust left him considerably more conservative.
I don’t have a lot of exposure to Holocaust related media, so I do not have much to compare with my reading of Maus. I have found this account of Vladek’s experiences highly personal and I think Spiegelman has done an excellent job conveying what it is like to hear these stories first hand. I wouldn’t have a problem reading another comic book about the Holocaust and I would also really like to read anything else by Spiegelman because I think he’s an excellent storyteller.
ReplyDeleteI think that Spiegelman does a very good job of communicating emotions through both his illustrations and text. For example, his use of darkness and shading is very effective for showing a somber or scary mood, while I have noticed that the scenes of interactions with his father are typically drawn in a lighter, more minimal style. I think this is well done, since it separates the two different circumstances and more accurately captures the mood of both. As for any of the frames working just as well as art - it’s difficult to say because it might not make sense outside of the context of the whole comic book. However, I do think the illustrations are well done. Many of them are very powerful images - for instance, the illustration on p. 27 which is the cover of chapter two. The juxtaposition of the nazi flag with the title “The Honeymoon” and the mice looking up from the bottom of the frame create a very impactful image.
I think the way Spiegelman set up the chapters (so that each one represents a single visit to his father) is a good choice. I think this was the best way to recreate the experience of hearing these stories from his father and showing how Vladek’s life is now and how both the telling of his story and the experiences themselves have had an impact on his life and personality. From what I’ve read so far, I see that Vladek’s experiences during the war (as well as the suicide of his wife) have had a tremendous impact on him. This is reflected in his attitude toward Mala, the way he keeps everything and hates spending money or wasting food, and his emotional reaction to remembering the past.
Growing up in the American school system, I was taught a great deal about the Holocaust. I have never been exposed to a comic like this before, but Speigelman did a great job of grabbing my attention. First of all the Nazi's being Cats and the Jews being Mice was such a simplistic metaphor. Though it was so simple it fit so well because the hate that the Nazi's had for the Jews was like an instinct to them.
ReplyDeleteI had learned about the Holocaust through school and only the most brutal and sad stories were shoved in my face. Yes, I do understand that we needed to learn about how horrible these things were, but I would have liked to have an insight on the background of these people. This is what I liked about Maus.
Learning about how Artie's parents met, and their story being in the war showed how many people this happened to. It gave me the opportunity to really see how these people were being treated without being disgusted with humanity. That's how I feel the media portrays the Holocaust, and it is horrible I completely agree.
Maus makes other comics about the Holocaust easier to read because it did not jump into the pain and problems right away. Also it showed that people did survive that horrid time and you could look to the future.
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ReplyDeleteI have always been very interested in the Holocaust, since first being introduced to it in school. Maus is a unique piece of writing, and for me it was both easy to digest and very emotionally disturbing. I feel very attached to the characters and I think the images connected with the words very well and aided the story telling in a way a regular novel could not. I appreciated how the story was a good combination of father-son bonding/present day interaction and flash backs. I also appreciated how much insight we got into the world that Vladek lived and the people we interacted with. We weren't thrust into a tragic environment, we got to witness the good, great, mediocre, bad and ugly with Vladek. I think I would read another Holocaust comic book, but I really like Maus and the next holocaust comic will have to be very different and some time from now.
There is one frame that I almost burst out in tears after reading. It was when Anja's grandparents are delivered to be transferred, and the family is saying goodbye to them, hugging, and wishing well, and the description at the bottom of the frame reads "But they went right away to Auschwitz, to the gas". The mistrust and deceit the Jews went through in their own homes is so tragic and heartbreaking, and it was such slow torture leading up to the worst of the war.
That scene was really well done, with the matter of fact statement about Anja's grandparents that really drives the horrible reality home. Another scene that really troubled me was the account of Vladek's family trying to sell their bedroom set, because even though they were so attached to it, they were desperate for the money - and then the German man who bought it completely swindled them and gave them nothing. Losing any cherished possession is obviously not as terrible as losing a loved one, but this scene both angered and upset me. I feel like Spiegelman is very good at conveying emotions through this medium.
DeleteI think the most interesting thing about this Holocaust story is that it's not a Holocaust story. I'd read about Maus before reading it, and after finishing I and II I can say that it's completely different than what I expected. I thought it was going to be just another Holocaust story. Moving, terrifying, but just a comic-book retelling of a story we've all heard time and time again. Instead, it's a story about the nature of horrible events like this, and the way we treat and perceive survivors. A lot of bad people died during the Holocaust. A lot of good people died during the holocaust. A lot of funny people, a lot of assholes. The people who died were people, they were not angels, and that's what makes it sad. Vladek, for example, was kind of a jerk. He was racist, greedy, miserly, and even abusive -- but he deserved none of what he suffered.
ReplyDeleteMaus is so successful because it is so real. It is one of the only unflinching Holocaust tales that is unflinching in its depiction of the victims as well as the Nazis. That's incredible, and it takes guts. It's hard and awkward to talk honestly about people who have suffered, but our aversion to talking about tragedy can lead to more tragedies when those events are used as shields to commit even more injustices. By talking honestly about the Holocaust, I think Art has done something amazing for rational thought. He has humanized the Holocaust. He has made it real.
In relation to this comic as a medium to tell the story of the holocaust. Honestly i feel a bit more disconnected by Maus, it seems more dismissive. While i get the idea and completely understand how being hyper-analytical of symbolic work can lead to having a deep understand and feeling of history, this falls a bit flat for me. That does not mean that I don't like Maus, I really enjoy the story, it is well rounded and interesting. The medium certainly presents something new to someone who has 500 hours or more to someone who has spent books and movies on the holocaust. From a historical perspective and a realistic perspective on what I find relatable it has been certainly dissociative.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the later questions, i think that his response to the diaries being burned is natural. While sure it can be argued that his father is a murderer for destroying the diaries. From a perspective outside of his apparent character I can understand why he would do this. At a young age I myself lost someone dear to me in my immediate family, the grief of denial can drive someone to do this and more. Finding any way to distance yourself from them ever existing to spare yourself the pain is normal. I understand the resentment but this is not something I would say surprised me at all as someone with a rough childhood.
1) This is not the first time I have read Maus. I had to read it, interestingly enough, for a Holocaust Literature class. I think this was produced and distributed in a time when people were only beginning to talk about, write about, and possibly thinking about retelling the horrors of Auschwitz and other Concentration camps. The very first time that I bought it, I was little taken aback by the format, I mean c'mon its the Holocaust. I had a very belittling opinion of the format, I was raised on the works of Jane Austen and The Brontes, so I couldn't imagine Comics to be as adult of a format as I learned that it is. Of course, my opinion has greatly been changed.
ReplyDelete2) The full page frame when Vladek and Anja are walking after they had just escaped being captured (again) where the road that they are walking on looks like a swastika has always been a poignant scene for me. It sort of gives the reader a little inside look at the fear that all Jews were feeling at the time. Of course, I think this scene only works in comic book form. It would be very difficult to have it in a film and it have the same depth and convey as much fear.
3) Art didn't have the connection with his mother anymore, that's why he calls Vladek a murderer, he can't get his mother's side of their story, her perspective is lost forever. Even before the war, Vladek was a tightwad with money. He didn't like that his father-in-law spent money all the time, he knew that saving what little money one could find, or what little could be used as currency would help them in the long run. It wasn't until the last year or so of the war that Vladek and Anja ended up in Auschwitz, so all of that jewelry, currency, anything he saved and bartered with was used in their plans for safety. Mala did not have the same experiences that he had, sure, she was in the camps, and she was at Auschwitz, but her experience is not the same as Vladek's.
1) As my earlier post may have intimated, I have experienced a good amount of Holocaust related content in my life, from films, books, and museums. I appreciate the I'd like to reiterate that I have a deep respect and appreciation for those who survived this massacre. But I must confess that the constant inundation of media concerning the event has made me feel a little less sensitive to those horrific acts. I couldn't help but feel detached from it all, simply because of the amount of exposure to it I was receiving. What makes Maus such an effective work for me is Art's ability to make his experience with the Holocaust a real story, not just someone's account of a historical event. Art's not afraid to put his family and himself in a realistic light, and his style of drawing only makes it easier to put myself in their position. With his comics, I can project myself into the experience much more so than I ever could with black-and-white photographs of starving survivors; with my own background, I simply cannot relate to them.
ReplyDelete2) While I think his art style as a whole is very effective and fitting within this context, I cannot in good faith say that it has a rich aesthetic. I find that his individual panels are never particularly substantial in depth or meaning, and I think that the story's charm might come more from the whole, rather than the sum of its part. That said, even his simplistic style can gain a memorability of its own. Certain panels that stick with me involve images of Nazi supporters smiling and being kind to Vladek, unaware that he is Jewish. The tension inherent in the scene is so at odds with the simple happy faces that it gives them a haunting quality.
3) I like Speigelman's decision to frame his story this way. Obviously, Maus is centered upon the Holocaust and what exactly happened during it. But what's also important is the impact it has had on the world since then, seen in Vladek's erratic behavior in the present. Art keeps track of his father's story on a day to day basis, partly to keep the chronology of his story easy to follow, but also to parallel his own journey of understanding with his father. It's important to understand the recognize the enormity of the Holocaust, but I think the small, personal interactions between Vladek and his father are the true meat of the story.
Besides Maus there are only a few movies about the Holocaust I've seen. This list includes "Schindler's List," "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "Life is Beautiful" (and if it counts, "Inglorious Basterds"). Maus is definitely comparable to maybe Life is Beautiful in terms of plot and tone, and it is seems light compared to Schindler's List. The scenes with Artie conducting the interview take a lot of the tension and pressure out so that its more bearable. The comic book format makes me much more attached to this story. I read it for a class in 9th grade and I still remembered more scenes than I do from any of those movies (save Inglorious Basterds). I would definitely read another holocaust comic book if it was closer to "Basterds" than to realism, just because I've had so much education on the holocaust that I wouldn't be able to get into another educational piece.
ReplyDeleteThe most effective scene in this book I feel is the comic within the comic where Anja commits suicide. That whole comic is very dark, much darker than the rest of the story, and much less conventional. I have always remembered it because it hits with so much emotional impaction. Another scene that has always been memorable for me is the one where the nazi slams the child into the wall and the blood splatters. The thing about this second scene is I don't think any movie has the guts to film something like that. It was even censored in the comic by the speech bubbles. A book wouldn't need to censor but it wouldn't have the same violence level with the blood splatter.
I think it makes sense that each chapter is a day of Art interviewing Vladek, I think he frames the story this way so that the reader can catch a few breaks, as both Art and his father need breaks themselves when telling the story. Spiegelman could have just drawn the story full out without including the interviewing scenes, but it would have been more intense and not shown the effects the holocaust had on his father's future. I think Art is upset that his father burned Anja's diaries because as a writer/artist he values her words as being part of her, but the practical Vladek probably didn't think of them that way and only as a reminder to him of her suffering. I don't think Vladek's personality was that much changed by the holocaust, like Mala said, she and others went through it to and aren't like him, I think his experiences brought out sides of him that might not have emerged, but that he just is a difficult person.
Maus is an amazing example of why comics can be used to tell dramatic stories. The comic format made me feel more attached to the characters within the world and makes it so I would gladly read another comic covering the holocaust. The emotions of the comic to me were best exemplified by the frames covering the Parshas Truma. This scene takes place from pages 59-63. It shows the desperation, unity, and the faith of the workers in the camps. Vladek's conversation with the Rabbi showed a variety of emotion. This scene was finished off by the sad revelation that 600 of his fellow prisoners were marched into the woods and killed. That moment sticks with me the most out of the story.
ReplyDeleteArt's telling of the story as he interviews his father over a couple of days is a brilliant concept by Spiegelman. It adds to the realism of the story by showing the lasting effects of the trauma that Vladek had suffered. How Vladek treats and connects with Art can be seen through the effects of the Holocaust. The way that Vladek would try and force Art to eat food even if he didn't particularly like the meal. Even going as far a saving the good Art passed on for him to eat later in the week. This comes from the days that Vladek went without food in the concentration camp. Vladeks meticulous nature also was enhanced by the crucible he went through, and can be seen throughout the the story telling process. Like how his medicine had to be counted and sorted in his particular way. The story of what Vladek went through, and the loss of Anja early in Art's life is an important factor when Vladek burns her diaries. The destruction of these journals was to Art like losing his mother again. He values her words and stories.
What I know about the Holocaust, I learned in school, and it wasn’t as profound and moving as the comic-format, it did make me feel more attached, because it was a more personal experience which made it all the more emotional and moving tale. I would like to read more about the Holocaust, and probably would aim for Maus II, but if that wasn’t an option, something similar in the context frame.
ReplyDeleteI think there are a few moments that wouldn’t be as effective in movie or book form, like when Vladek is relaying his memories in war to his son, it is less threatening shown as comics, it lightens the mood, it doesn’t make you want to stop reading but continue on and see what else Vladek has to say.
I believe it was fitting for each chapter to represent a day, it makes us relate to time on a more realistic basis. Art believes his mother’s diaries are the last live memory for him, and it is his only way for him to bring himself closer to her memory. I think regardless of how much Vladek gives his son a hard time, with his outbursts and his mood swings, because he is Art’s only remaining parent, Art, sucks it up and moves on. I think as much of a complex character Vladek is, the war did have an effect on him, but other events altered him as well, he had the ability to do what not many others did back in that time, and he wanted to live, he fought to survive and lead a good life for himself and his family, giving up wasn’t an option for him, which is an admirable quality.
Again i think Maus does a great job in telling about the Holocaust in a manner which lends itself to a sort of distance, allowing one to really contemplate and digest the events and scenes being discussed. Because neither the author nor the reader has to inhabit the character, this distance allows one to form objective thoughts/feelings about the very subjective matter on hand.
ReplyDeleteI think the most emotional and heart wrenching moment for me was when Vladek and Anja learn of Richeiu's death. As a father this part just ripped me apart knowing, they were doing the absolute best they could to protect their child, and circumstance was so much greater than them, that their best fell apart. Not only this but knowing that they gave their child to someone they trusted to protect him, and that person betrayed that trust, yes in the face of insurmountable odds, but to realize that you had given your child to its' murderer is heart-wrenching. Either this or the earlier comic Spiegelman had drawn of his mothers suicide, because this is a very real and very powerful moment, this is a childs attempt at overcoming something beyond his understanding, and overcoming what is literally a life changing event at that age. This sentiment is summed up in the final line "Congratulations, you've committed the perfect crime...You murdered me, Mommy, and left me here to take the rap." and then add to this the end of Maus I where Art learns that his last connection with the mother whom he took for granted before she left him forever, had been burned because it was too painful for the father to hold onto, even though they weren't for the father, but rather for the child. That was downright soul crushing.