Without a doubt, my favorite book to date in this class has been Art Spiegelman's "Maus I". What I found particularly compelling was the amount of symbolism and where we find it in his drawings. I'm not just talking about the "cat and mouse" theme, which was certainly brilliant, but at the more subtle hints within the book.
The fact that the Polish were represented as pigs and therefore our Jewish characters and others like them were depicted literally putting on pig masks when they were pretending to blend in as Polish citizens. To see the strings at the back of a characters head showed us somethig that the picture might not otherwise have been able to show us; how else might someone portray a Jew in hiding?
On page 80 I found a particularly moving picture. Vladek is frightened and unsure of how to escape the soldiers. He considers what will happen if he moves away slowly and if he moves away quickly. In the picture he is surrounded by the Star of David, and it symbolizes how consumed he is with his identity. He feels like his creed is being broadcast for all to see and that it is blatantly obvious to everyone.
My favorite drawing is on page 125 when Anja and Vladek are looking for a new place to go. They come to a crossroads and the roads are in the shape of a swastika. To me, it says that no matter where they go, they will only find more of the same, that all roads hold the same story, and who TRULY controls those paths.
I think that by making the characters these animals, Art Spiegelman made a very harsh story easier to read for the more "faint of heart" audience, like myself. This story; this message... They are important to pass along to new generations, and this format does so brilliantly.
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I as well enjoyed all the symbols. I didnt realize all of them until people started pointing them out more but their are just a ton of them. I think that, that is the reason it took Art Speigelman so long to write this book!!
ReplyDeleteMaus was also my favorite book! It was very sad but there were times that we were able to take a break from the story. I enjoyed how Spiegelman put in little times away from the story to show the reader how Valdek lives now.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the breaks from the war story to show how the survivor lives "now" is helpful. It gives you a chance to come out from under the weight of the story, and remember that there is a sort of "happy ending" in that he lives.
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