Week 7: Maus

Art Spiegelman's Maus is a great example of how the comic medium has come so far in being able to present deep social commentary while also being such a great read. Maus is simplistic in it's styling and uses a unique visual depiction of it's characters. Jews are seen as mice, the Germans/Nazi party are cats, Polish are pigs, etc. This interesting choice in character depiction and the simple look of the comic help make it easy to get into the story and gives it a more "welcoming" feel for the reader. Although the content of the novel is very, very dark I felt that the use of making the characters cutesy looking animals to help lessen the dread of what I was reading. Finishing the novel helps give you an appreciation for this visual choice though as the differentiation between peoples as different animals helps give the metaphor of separation between the cultural groups who were involved in WWII in Europe. Such can be understood when you realize that the Jews are shown as mice while the Germans/Nazis are cats. Understanding the meaning behind the relationship between these species, that being one is prey and one is the predator, gives the visual of Maus an even more insidious feeling while reading.

The story of Maus focuses on the retelling of Spiegelman's father's time as a Polish Jew during the height of WWII in Nazi occupied Europe. Spiegelman of course uses the characters of mouse Artie and his father in the novel as stand-ins for himself and his father but the impact of what is told is no much lessened. The story is told through Artie's father as he's being interviewed by his son. The comic goes through his account of how he met his wife, dealt with the building Nazi occupation and anti-semitic attitudes which grew in his homeland, how he and his family evaded capture from the Nazis, and other situations. The story, while containing moments of humor and genuine human moments, becomes incredibly real and hard to read as Artie continues to interview his father's past and more horrible events are brought into light which happened to his father and his family. 

Maus, I feel, is an incredible book because despite how the characters are all anthropomorphized non-human species it's one of the most "human" comics I've ever had the genuine pleasure of reading. The protagonists of Maus are just so incredibly relatable and realistic in their choices and characteristics that even though they look like mice I still felt for them and what they went through. Being based off of true events also adds to this sympathy. Despite the style of the comic what's taking place in the story has happened in reality so it hits hard. You're reading a comic but it's still being based off of true events which are hard to swallow.