Review of Maus I and Maus Ii

Review of Maus I and Maus II

The novels Maus I and Maus II, written by Art Spiegelman, visually bring to life the story of a holocaust survivor and his son. The narrative is a tale of survival by Jewish Holocaust victim and main character, Vladek Spiegelman. Though not having lived through the holocaust himself, Artie, Vladeks son, is forced to deal with the toll that the war has taken on his father. Arties mother survived the Holocaust; however, it had taken its toll on her mentally causing her to end her own life when he was a young man. Maus is cleverly assembled as a comic book uniquely using animals to represent people, yet evoking powerful emotions.

Spiegelman brilliantly uses a variety of animals to depict different races in both novels. For instance, cats are used to represent Germans and mice are used to represent Jews. This helps identify the Jews, mice, as constant victims of the preying cats, Germans, throughout the Holocaust. The animals also help to distinguish the difference between the multiple races involved in the novels. The Polish drawn as pigs, the French as frogs and the Americans as dogs clearly differentiates between each character. Using animals, Spiegelman also visibly depicts the dehumanization that occurred during the Holocaust. The manner in which people begin to treat each other becomes increasingly inhumane. Vladek’s story describes how the German military treated all Jews as if they were vermin, undeserving to live. Throughout the novel, the representation of each race as a different animal makes this narrative simpler to follow.

Fear, grief, and even occasional humor are often understood more clearly through illustration rather than text. The tragic effects that the Holocaust caused on Vladek and his family were understood through painful expressions, and heartbreaking scenes. Each tragic picture stirs emotion and provokes thought. For example, the shift that Art makes between mouse and human represents his inner turmoil....