Maus Text Response

Maus Text Response Essay Samara Sewak 9E4

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus, includes several features that provide us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival as well as the difficult and often conflicting relationship between Art and his father. Visual imagery is a powerful device that allows us to see and decipher people's emotions and body language. Written text is another strong feature that allows us to understand what and how something is being said and provides us with a deeper understanding of what is happening. The shifting between the past and present allows us to compare how Vladek acted during the Holocaust to after. Many of Vladek’s traits crucial for survival during the Holocaust became an annoyance in his old

age. This affected his relationships with those close to him. The use of animalisation is a very intelligent way that Spiegelman helped to convey the different groups of people. It provides us with an insight into the hierarchy during this time in history.

The visual imagery in Maus helps to provide us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival by allowing us to see his and other character’s reactions to significant events in the novel.

An example of this was when Vladek, Polish and the Jew passengers saw a swastika flag from the window of a train. We can see their different reactions to the same image and this provides us with an understanding of how they are feeling. The use of visual imagery also provides us with an insight into Vladek and Art’s relationship. From the visual imagery, we can see how Vladek and Art treat each other. For example, when Vladek’s favourite plate is broken after it has been dropped, Vladek is initially angry at Art. A while later, when Vladek and Art are talking about something else, we can still see the frown on Vladek’s face. Although Vladek doesn’t say anything, we know he is still bitter about the broken plate. This shown from the deep frown on his face. Art, is obviously annoyed by the way Vladek is acting, as the broken plate wasn’t his fault. Vladek carries out his anger on Art, and this works to create a conflicting relationship between them. The use of visual imagery adds an extra dimension to the story and shows us information that would not otherwise be conveyed through, such as the body language of the characters and their reactions to certain events in the

story.

Written text allows is a device used that shows us what is being and also the way in which it is said. This is by things such as the font size and density of the shading of the written words. These provide us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival as well as his relationship with Art, which is initially conflicting and fighting but changes throughout the novel as Art learns more about his father and why he acts the way he does. An example of how written text provides us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival during the Holocaust was when Vladek was in the concentration camp and the Polish Kapo was speaking to the Jews. The Kapo was shouting angrily at the Jews. This is shown by the large, bold text in the jagged speech bubble coming from his mouth. The bold text and jagged speech bubble indicates that the Kapo was shouting angrily. This helps to let us hear what is being said and how it was said as Vladek heard it. The written text helps us to better understand what Vladek and the other Jews were hearing and therefore provides us with a better insight into Vladek’s story and what happened to him. Similary, the way Vladek and Art talk to each other is displayed in the written text of the novel. When Vladek or Art emphasises words, such as when Art is asking Vladek if they can go and look for Anja’s diaries and Vladek replies “No… I looked already”, an emphasis is placed on the word looked, which indicates that Vladek is getting annoyed with Art repeating the same question. The emphasis on certain words and phrases provide us with an insight into the way Vladek and Art talk to each other, and their tone of voice which is often annoyed, and this gives us an idea of what their relationship is like. The use of written text allows to see what, and how a certain word or phrase is being said with the font size, boldness and shading of words.

The shifting of timelines in Maus, is a feauture that helps us to understand the horrible things that Vladek and so many other Jews experienced during the Holocaust.

The shift between the past and present also allows us to compare how Vladek acted during the Holocaust and developed traits such as not throwing anything away and how these things became his weaknesses in this old age as he was considered miserly. The way Vladek’s strengths as a young man became his weaknesses as an old man is clearly displayed through the shifting timelines. The way Vladek survived the holocaust was from being resourceful and not wasting anything, especially food. This was shown more than one time, including when Art was over at Vladek’s place and Vladek was obsessed with Art finishing everything on his plate, as he knew what it felt like to be extremely hungry and did not like the idea of food being wasted. This trait, although extremely useful during the holocaust had become a weakness for Vladek as an old man as his obsession with not wasting anything annoyed everyone, particularly those close to him such as Mala and Art. It affected his relationship with Art and often resulted in conflicts. This is clearly displayed through the shift between past and

present.

The use of animalisation provides an insight into the hierarchy that existed at this time in history, while also helping us to distinguish between the different groups of people. The use of animalisation shows us who is who. Jews are portrayed as mice, while the Nazis are portrayed as cats. The mouse symbolises that Jews were viewed as vermin, only around to be exterminated. The Nazis, displayed as cats, is a metaphor for the relationship between the Nazis and Jews. The Nazis are much more powerful than the Jews and toy with the Jews before killing them, just as cats do before they kill mice. Another thing that animalisation allows to understand is how different groups of people each other. It also reminds us that human behaviour often mirrors that of the basic animal hierarchy. The use of animalisation helps us to understand Vladek’s story of survival by clearly outlining who is who and how they are viewed in society, if they are at the top of the food chain or at the bottom.

The graphic novel, Maus, has many features that provide us with an insight into Vladek’s story of survival during the holocaust as well as the father and son relationship between Vladek and Art. Visual imagery shows us another level of the story, and provides us with an insight into how the characters react to certain events in the novel. Written text helps us to hear the tone of voice being used by characters from the font size, boldness and shading of certain words. The shift between the past and present is a feature that helps us to understand the horrible things that Vladek and so many other Jews experienced during the Holocaust while also allowing us to compare how Vladek acted during the Holocaust compared to after. His developed traits such as not throwing anything away during the holocaust and these things became his weaknesses in this old age as he was considered miserly, and an annoyance to Art as well as others, and this affected his relationships. The use of animalisation provides with an understanding of Vladek’s story of survival by showing which group was where in the hierarchy of at this time. These features all show us an extra part of the story that is not included in a classic novel.