Essay about Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Spiegelman’s Maus is a graphic novel which explores events of the holocaust and the uniting of a father and son. Though often overlooked the dedications play an integral role in better understanding the text. The dedications do not influence the meaning of the book but do reinforce events in the book. Spiegelman dedicates the first book to his mother as an attempt to rid himself of the guilt associated with his mother’s suicide. In an attempt to not have the same short comings as his father, Art associates his most prized work with the most prized people in his life. Richieu is often disregarded in the book however he is vital in Spiegelman’s eyes. The book in its entirety is highly important as it is a dedication to a whole race.

In the book called Maus by Art Spiegelman, it tells the story about a mouse named Valdek Spiegelman, who is a Holocaust survivor, and his son Artie. Artie writes a book on his father and the terrifying experience he dealt with when surviving the Holocaust.

What if you were a holocaust survivor and asked to describe your catastrophic experience? What part of the event would you begin with, the struggle, the death of innocent Jews, or the cruel witnessed? When survivors are questioned about their experience they shiver from head to toe, recalling what they have been through. Therefore, they use substitutes such as books and diaries to expose these catastrophic events internationally. Books such as Maus, A survivor’s tale by Art Spiegelman, and Anne Frank by Ann Kramer. Spiegelman presents Maus in a comical format; he integrated the significance of Holocaust while maintaining the comic frame structure format, whereas comic books are theoretically supposed to be entertaining. Also, Maus uses a

The Maus books are award-winning comics written by Art Spiegelman. They are the non-fictional stories of Art and his father, Vladek. In the book, Art Spiegelman is a writer, planning to portray Vladek’s life as a Jewish man during WWII Europe in comic book form. While Art gathers information for his story through visits to his father’s house, much is learned about their relationship and individual personalities. Through this analysis, Maus becomes an example of how the Holocaust has effected the lives of survivors and their children for decades. Survivors suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which impairs their ability to live normal lives and raise their children. By

The Holocaust was a traumatic event that most people can’t even wrap their minds around. Libraries are filled with books about the Holocaust because people are both fascinated and horrified to learn the details of what survivors went through. Maus by Art Spiegelman and Night by Elie Wiesel are two highly praised Holocaust books that illustrate the horrors of the Holocaust. Night is a traditional narrative that mainly focuses on Elie’s experiences throughout the holocaust while Maus is a comic book that focuses on the relationship between Art and his father and the generational trauma Art is going through as well as his father’s experiences during the Holocaust. Night and Maus are very different styles of

After the Holocaust on May 8th, 1945, a book called Maus was released which is revolved around survival. The author, Art Spiegelman intended the story was to reflect upon his past and express his feelings world how he had to deal life was at the time.The book is a story of Art’s father named Vladek, he tells his point-of-view to the world to show multiple struggles he had to withstand. The theme of Art Spiegelman’s book Maus is survival; Art Spiegelman shows the theme of survival by using tone, mood, and point-of-view throughout the graphic novel. Vladek is the main character of Maus and shares his point of view. Vladek tells a true story about how he survived the Holocaust and the things he had to accomplish to make it through alive. This book is based on a true story of what had happened during the Holocaust.

“Maus: A Survivor’s Tale”, and “Maus: And Here My Troubles Began”, are hit graphic novels about World War II, and tell the fictional stories of a soldier who survived the Holocaust. These two books are both purely about survival, but not in the way that you may think. Maus I and Maus II are both essentially telling us that survival may mean that you live through something horrific, but you may be a different person by the end of it.

Throughout modern history, various historical texts, personal accounts, and books have been published regarding the devastating events of World War 2 and the Holocaust. Two of the most prominent novels written about the Holocaust are Maus and The Hiding Place. Maus is a graphic novel illustrated by Arthur Spiegelman in 1980 and details the catastrophic effects of the Holocaust on the Jewish survivors of it. Another notable book similar to Maus is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. The Hiding Place is a biography written and published in 1937 and details the story of a young Christian family during World War 1. Throughout these accounts, contrasting themes are explored such as love, anger, forgiveness, and guilt. Although there are various similarities, there are also extreme differences in the characters responses to the Holocaust as well as the themes present within both novels.

Maus has an interesting way in approaching a historical account such as the relationship with his father and the Holocaust. One of the most interesting aspects of Maus is the way in which Spiegelman uses animals to distinguish the various races within the comic

Comics exist to expose the ethnic representations that seek to control the development of collective perceptions, memories and emotions and especially fear by investigating the techniques through which this control is maintained. Maus I is a true account of a Holocaust survivor, Vladek Spiegelman, and his experiences as a young Jew during the horrors leading up to the confinement in Auschwitz. Maus II is about Vladek recounting his own history to his son Art

The books Maus I and Maus II are biographical comic books written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman. In these books Spiegelman tells his father’s story of survival through the horrors of the Holocaust. Spiegelman simultaneously presents an inner story of the conflict between him and his father, Vladek Spiegelman as both he and his father try to come to terms with the past, and work to have a normal life. This feelings of tension and conflict suffered by Vladek and Art in Maus I and II is caused by a transitional and rebounding feeling of survivor’s guilt caused by Vladek’s passing down of his own guilt, Art’s guilt of neglect, and Art’s attempts to come to terms with his own guilt of survival.

Maus is a graphic novel that features Art Spiegelman as he interviews his father, Vladek, about his experience during the Holocaust. His father, Vladek, is elderly and has a troubled marriage. He is a very frugal person and does not like to spend his money. The book goes into detail about Vladek’s life as he goes from being wealthy to living in poverty. He goes through two marriages and raises his son. The author shows the characters in the book as Jewish mice, the Polish people as pigs, and the Nazis as cats. This is to dehumanize the tragic events of the Holocaust. Vladek’s will to live is strong and this allows him to live through the horrors of concentration camps. He was separated from his wife, nearly starves to death, watches his friends

All i gotta say is, this book is awesome!! I would rate maus a 4.5 out of 5. The book i'm reading is maus by Art, Spiegelman. This book is revolving around the author's father and his family's experiences in the days of the holocaust. The way the author drags you in by introducing you with a little family comedy is amazing i didn't really expect much out this book because for many years i've learned a lot about the holocaust and thought that i knew it all. The author goes his way explaining a different view that i never thought of. The spigelman family are jewish and the way the author goes about telling their story is by through their memories. I would always try to think what it would've been like as a jew during that time but the author opened my eyes as i was reading this book it was like learning every tragedy all over again. I reason i rated this book so high

The graphic novel, Maus by Art Spiegleman, vividly depicts the story of Vladek Spiegleman's experiences of the Holocaust. The hardships of the Holocaust continually influence Vladek, and resonate through future generations, ultimately affecting his son, Art. Maus contains two primary narratives one taking place in Poland during World War II(WWII), and the other taking place in New York during the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The relationship between these two narratives of the past and present seems to be the central idea in this graphic novel. The story illustrates the past experiences of Vladek during the holocaust and how it shapes the present.  Due to the unusual style, it is at times very hard for Art Spiegleman to get the characters'

Jew’s that lived in Germany or Poland in the late 1930’s and 1940’s lived under constant fear for being found. A Jew’s life during this time consisted of hiding from the ruthless Nazi campaign. These grim times pressured many Jews to change their appearance and lifestyle in order to blend in with the non-Jewish crowd. This act of concealment was displayed particularly effectively in the Art Spiegleman’s Maus: A Survivors Tale. In this graphic novel Spiegleman portrayed his father’s survival stories of the holocaust with mice as Jews, cats as Germans, pigs as Poles, and more animals for different racial backgrounds. As depicted on page 136, the mice would sometimes wear pig mask in order to disguise themselves as Poles, and in this case they