Annotated bibliography of Maus
Throughout the semester, I and my group have been reviewing a few books for class and putting them on our own blog website. The first of these books is a graphic novel called Maus, written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman, which is a tale about the effects one event can have throughout multiple generations, a tale of stories and memories, fathers and sons, and the right to tell a story in the way you want to tell it. Throughout the semester, my group and I have put out various different blogs on our own website showcasing the different ways on how we read this amazing tale.
The first of these blogs is titled “Family History and Generational Gaps in Maus,” written by Micheal Majewski. He explores a fine line between being history and being forgotten. He also expands on this by discussing the finer details of how the lines of history/memory blur over time, like how Vladik tells his story to his son Art (the author of this novel) the details of his life before, during, and after World War II. Showcasing both comedy and tragedy during each part, but over time with the more traumatic parts, Vladik’s memory gets a bit fuzzy during his time in the concentration camps.
The story of Maus by Art Spiegelman showcases a fine line between remembering our history and being forgotten to the unforgiving passage of time. But when it comes to remembering what we experienced, we are left with so many options on what to do with such knowledge. What Art does here is use the information from his father about the past is helping try to come to terms with what happened to some degree, so Art can help record his words and his stories in the form of a story. When the story is being told, Art starts to learn and understand his father more and more, which helps strengthen their relationship. Art doesn’t want to tell the story, Maus, for any personal gain, Art tells Maus so others can understand firsthand how lives like his father were affected by the horrors of the past, and can also help expand upon it more.
Showcasing the final act of the story, or the climax actually delves into both points of view as they both intersect near the end of the story. Vladik was recently liberated from the concentration camps when the allies freed them at the end of WWII. And with all this behind him, it changes Vladik’s life forever. On one hand, it showcases him turning bitter and being more sheltered from the world, and on the other hand, it eventually gets released when Art, his son, wanted to hear about what happened in his life so he can write Maus for the public. But at the end of it, Vladik eventually wins because as painful as it was to recall certain events, he ultimately tells them because he knows deep down that they did happen and he can’t change what happened, and he is at peace with it, even if some of the blocks strained relationships along the way.
The second blog we’ve gone through was titled “Close reading and Genre for Maus”, written by Quaydasia Josephs. She tells us about how and why the story is told the way it was, and not something else, as in the case with Maus and it is told through the aspect of it being a Graphic novel instead of a regular novel. For example, it is used to showcase everyone as anthropomorphic animal people, but each race is its own animal, like mice, pigs, dogs, frogs, and more. Something like this can’t be explained easily if it’s just written out on paper, so you need to show rather than tell. And, later on, in the book’s part 2 section, we see a small chapter where everyone IS a human, but are all just wearing masks. The author of the book, Art, is seen wearing a mouse mask as below his drawing station is a bunch of dead mouse people to showcase the guilt, horror, and trauma holocaust survivors have to face with them.
Not only can we read the story of Vladik from before WWII to the 1980s, but we get also see what the story has been showcasing as well, from the pictures, to the facial expressions, to all the little hand motions as well that make for a more realistic setting, even if Vladik here is a giant mouse man. It actually showcases how anxious, nervous, angry, and more without saying it, but instead by showcasing it.
And speaking of animals, for the third blog, “The Hierarchy of Animals and Society in Maus”, written by Spencer Agabiti, We can see more detailed information about which group of people represents what kind of animal showcased in the entirety of Maus. The Jewish people are represented by being mice, as a reflection of how the Nazis see Jewish people as less than people, as vermin really. The Nazis themselves are cats as they believe they’re the ones who will wipe out the Jewish way of life. The Polish people are pigs as they’re referred to in the past as ‘dirty swines’ who sold the Jewish out. All of these, and others, were to showcase the author’s way of showing the reader that with everyone following a role, it’s easier for the reader to showcase who is actually what. Plus, this also showcases a hierarchy system that showcases who should be on top, and who’s on the bottom.
While it’s easy to showcase everyone as animals for entertainment value, the fact of the matter is that there’s more to the characters than what we originally thought of. The cat is hunting the mouse because of various different reasons: for food, for sport, for entertainment, or even to showcase a message to other mice. And the last part is exactly what the Nazis want to showcase to the other Jewish people, that no matter where you hide, we will find and exterminate your kind. Art does a good job at showcasing this, both from a first glance perspective and a deeper meaning behind the reason.
And the last blog that was written was “Layers of Interpolation in Maus”, written by Allison D’Arienzo, in which she showcases that the two points of view in the story, both from the father, Vladik’s side, and from the perspective of the son, Artie. And what ties them both together is the relationship these two have with one another, throughout the good times they’ve had and the bad times they’ve had. With getting to know these two throughout their stories, we’ve come to learn and sympathize with them as well. When Vladik destroyed his wife’s diaries, it showcased what we would like to have seemed in them until we as the reader discovered he was lying about them, it actually made the audience, like me, pretty angry at the end result.
Final Reflection
This showcases that not only the characters inside the story have relationships with each other, but also the reader towards the characters as they understand what they’re going through, see the world in ways the characters don’t get to. It may be hard to see things we don’t really wanna see, but sometimes we need to push ourselves to the end in order for us to see what it’s all about.
In conclusion, this semester has helped me figure out a lot about what to do when not only reading a story but understanding the meaning between the lines as well. Throughout this semester, I have gone through 4 selected readings between me and my groupmates, which were Maus, The Hate U Give, The Midnight Library, and Kafka on the Shore. In addition, we also did one from the start of the semester, Damien. Throughout these 5 readings and multiple written blogs, I have learned quite a lot about not only the stories we’ve read but also about the methods in how we, as writers, read these fine stories and understand what’s going on with them.
For this class, there were 4 ways in which our books were presented in our blogs. The first way we did so was that we showcased what the reading was about and showcase, expanded, and discuss the basic overall theme of the story. For this for Maus, I’ve not only showcased the themes of war, memory, and legacy, but I’ve also talked about relationships, forgiveness, and acceptance, also while showcasing that while things may be showcased in one way, they do hide a hidden meaning behind it. This one meant a whole lot to me because my aunt (who’s married to my mother’s brother), is Jewish and actually gave me an interest in the Jewish culture myself. It also helped me understand firsthand what they were going through back then. In the second book we did, The Hate U Give, I was in charge of making sure that I’ve read and re-read certain sections of the book so I can understand the racial discrimination that’s being presented here. I knew a few friends who were discriminated against like this in my childhood and this kind of his is a bit close to home with me.
The third book I’ve read was known as The Midnight Library and this one showcases the meaning behind what we do during our time being alive and wondering what we’ll leave behind, like our memories and legacy. The choices we can make and the relationships we form could have everlasting effects that can span for decades, or even generations to come. This also makes me think because I too would also like to leave behind a legacy of my own. And the fourth, and final book, was Kafka on the Shore, and the blog I wrote for it showcases the narrations of the writer in what they were trying to do here. This time, this story flip-flops between two different points of view every other chapter, each one showcasing the opposite ends of Japan. This makes me wonder about the points of view and the lives separate people can have, each with their own unique personalities, background, and lives they currently live, even if these two don’t even meet in the story.
Through this semester, not only did I learn about the stories at hand here with the 5 we’ve read, but I’ve learned more about the way we can read, reread, take notes, and record what we think happened in these stories. This semester has been a great learning experience for me, and the lessons I’ve learned here will stick with me for years to come.
Citations
Majewski, Michael. “Family History and Generational Gaps in Maus.” The Rowan Writers, 4 Oct. 2021, https://rowanwriters.wordpress.com/2021/09/27/maus-by-art-spiegelman/.
Josephs, Quaydasia. “Close reading and Genre for Maus.” The Rowan Writers, 11 Oct. 2021, https://rowanwriters.wordpress.com/2021/10/11/close-reading-and-genre-for-maus/.
Agabiti, Spencer. “The Hierarchy of Animals and Society in Maus.” The Rowan Writers, 12 Oct. 2021, https://rowanwriters.wordpress.com/2021/10/12/the-hierarchy-of-animals-and-society-in-maus/.
D’Arienzo, Allison. “Layers of Interpolation in Maus.” The Rowan Writers. 27 Oct. 2021, https://rowanwriters.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/layers-of-interpolation-in-maus/.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus : a Survivor’s Tale. New York :Pantheon Books, 19861991.
Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give. Walker Books, 2017.
Haig, Matt. The Midnight Library. Viking, 2020.
Murakami, Haruki, and Philip Gabriel. Kafka on the Shore. London: Harvill, 2005. Print.
The Rowan Writers 