The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman Which Animal Were Wich Race?

.... A Commentary on

Maus by Art Spiegelman

There are two books or "graphic novels" in the series.

In them there are three story lines that are presented:
1. The story of Art Spiegelman as he is writing the story of his father
2. The story that the father Vladek is telling (his feel in WWII)
3. The story of Vladek, the father, during the time he is telling the story

The symbolism:

The symbolism in the story is some other layer of the presentation. The people are presented as animals. The Jews are mice, the Germans are predatory cats, the Poles are pigs, the Swedes are deer with horns, Americans are dogs, a Gypsy is a butterfly, a Frenchman is a frog. One could become into a long discussion of the symbolism in animal anthropomorphism in cartoons. The well known "Porky Pig" (t.m. Warner Brothers) character for example, is a somewhat bumbling but generally sympathetic character. The creative person/author likewise changes the expression on the faces of the characters, so it is piece of cake to translate their feelings/motivation. As an bated it may exist added that Poles practise like their ham, and pork is a non-kosher nutrient.

Vladek (Wladek) is a complicated graphic symbol. Equally the story begins he cruelly abandons his girlfriend in order to marry Anna (Anja) who is of a wealthy family. On his father'south insistence he starves himself to avoid service in the Polish regular army. Eventually he does serve in the army marching alongside the pig soldiers and existence taken prisoner. Subsequently doing forced labor he is released and has to make do under the atmospheric condition of the occupation, which he does quite well. We encounter him going around wearing a pig-mask (blending into the population?), as conditions for the mice become more than and more hard.

The pigs for the most function are non presented in a sympathetic way or as beautiful. They are portrayed equally bad tempered or frightened and unwilling to help. Information technology is never explained why. It is suggested that Poles killed Jews. The kapos in the camp are cruel pigs. A priest (pig) prisoner consoles Vladek. The thought that there were prisoners other than Jews at Auschwtiz makes an occasional appearance merely is never fully explored. Earlier in the story there is a female pig who hides Vladek'south family but coin seems to be the motivation. Finally, vodka drinking pigs undertake to smuggle Vladek and Anja into Republic of hungary but only betray them to the Germans.

To be fair it should be mentioned that there is a frame which portrays mice equally ghetto policemen and there is an incident where a mouse sells out a group in hiding. However, the worst portrayals are given to the pigs. Even among the cats in that location is a baby-sit who is sickened by what is going on and later in the story there is a gentile (cat) woman who saves her Jewish husband.

The fact that NO Jews would take survived without help from Poles is never brought out. The reader is non made aware that, to counterbalance the bad pigs, in that location were people who paid with their lives for helping their neighbors or fifty-fifty strangers. On the other hand Vladek is presented as quite a "kombinator" who is always able to "organize" things to continue himself and his family unit going.

Vladek'south identity as a Pole and a Jew is never explored and from hints in the story nosotros can see that he took part in the life of a greater Polish social club. He speaks Smooth well. This comes out during a mail service-war episode when Art'south wife picks upwards a blackness hitch-hiker while Vladek is in the car (he makes disparaging statements in Polish). Information technology is there that he shows his racist tendencies -- and is criticized by his son. The son is besides upset by other facets of Vladek'south behavior -- his constant business organisation for money, bad treatment of his 2nd married woman Mala, kwetching and complaining over insignificant details. Indeed the son tells his father to cease behaving similar a "stereotypical Jew."

Because this is a "personal story" and has many facets, it may be confusing to young people who are grappling with the inhumanity and the criminal offense of genocide in WWII. Each survivor has a unlike set of experiences and these don't necessarily match up. In this version the pictures suggest sure negative attitudes and ideas about Poles and Poland that reinforce those expressed in the text. Thus the author is able to impress his ain estimation on the reader. The "pig people" are fabricated to seem total of hate, while the "true cat people" are hateful and vicious in a matter-of-form way. (see the fastened frames).

As for the physical details -- description of the Auschwitz military camp for example -- this is quite correct. Quite peradventure Art, the author, studied the history or had even visited the place. It is likewise bad that he did not have an interest in pre-WWII Smooth society and Polish-Jewish relations at that time (or spoken to other survivors). It might have led to a improve agreement of the Smooth Jewish dilema and a more balanced book.

Is this the best kind of reading for school pupils learning about the Holocaust? I belive that, as dull every bit it may sound, the learner should get-go know the general outline and the core facts. This way he/she may adequately estimate the other stories that appear in this context. Let's face it - at that place were good and bad people amid the Germans, the Poles and the Jews. Circumstances aggravated the situation. The war-occupation-genocide was a circuitous horror and it cannot be treated simplisticly as: mice = good; cats = bad, pigs = worse.

Once a book is placed on a reading list past a schoolhouse lath, said board is non going to retreat from their position because of the political situation they face. The best grade of action is to get another book -- 1 that promotes a positive viewpoint -- onto the list.

Poland has many very talented graphic artists, and the "graphic novel" (comic book) has gained legitimacy in recent times. I'd like to suggest that the Shine government sponsor and produce such a positive volume on Poland's WWII story that could exist distributed at the NCSS (National Conference for the Social Studies) to teachers, with more copies made available to them on request. Considering the amounts being spent on promoting Poland every bit a tourist destination, the cost would be negligible and would create a positive impression of Poland.

Peter Obst

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