Maus

Week seven: Maus and the legitimization of the graphic novel

Maus 

by Art Spiegelman 

Art Spiegelman's Maus takes the horrifying event of the Holocaust and explores it in a more palatable way in order to give the reader a sense of entertainment as they learn about the past experiences of his family. The events are explained through the author's interview with his father, who was a Holocaust survivor. This perspective makes the personal details unique to the father while also keeping it relatable to the reader because it isn't a direct first-hand account. 

This graphic novel manages to tell its story in a somewhat fun way without making light of the subject matter. The most creative and significant way that Spiegelman achieved this was with the personification of animals to represent different nationalities and religions. For example, Jewish people are depicted as mice, German people are depicted as cats, and Polish people are depicted as pigs. This is a clever way that the author exploits stereotypes to further his storytelling. 

As a reader, I find the animals to be more visually appealing than the usual human characters, so this detail keeps me interested and sets Maus apart from many other graphic novels.