When I was in ninth grade, I tried reading Maus. I think I got through about the first chapter before putting it down and picking up The Sandman instead (we had such a wonderful high school library). I wasn’t too experienced with comic books those days, and I guess I didn’t really get why it was in graphic novel form, since the actions are pretty straightforward, and the dialogue is colorful enough to tell us what we need to know. The question I’d ask my ninth grade self today, of course, is, “Why not a graphic novel?” I’ve since come to appreciate more the subtle visual effects, from the overt metaphor of wearing a Polish mask on page 64, to the fact that the hanged mice at the start of chapter four really do look like dead mice, perhaps bringing to mind phrases like “getting rid of vermin” or “mouse trap.” I also appreciate the attention to detail in period costumes and backgrounds, and the moody shading that turns the father’s narration into a war movie. I’d still like to know Spiegelman’s rationale behind choosing this medium, but I’m no longer surprised or turned off by it.
Another thing that initially confused me was, well, probably the most important part of the book: why were different races being depicted as different species? Isn’t that a kind of racist, Nazi-ish way of thinking? I guess I was envisioning the type of Nazi rationale depicted in Inglourious Basterds (yes, I’m referencing two Tarantino movies in as many posts), where the German is the aggressive predator and the Jews are cunning prey. And I’d like to take this opportunity to slap my ninth-grade self on the back of the head, because of course that’s what Spiegelman is making us think of. The fact that normal Germans going about their everyday lives are still cats, and even the sympathetic, helpful Poles are still pigs–see Janina, pg 37–shows that he is aware of the problematic nature of such characterizations and is forcing us to think of it too.
The only thing I still don’t really get is why Polish people are depicted as pigs. To me, the immediate connotations with that animal would be cute, smart and helpful, but I doubt that’s what Spiegelman’s going for. Is the idea that they are unclean? Greedy? Domesticated so that they can be manipulated? Maybe it was a cultural stereotype at the time that I am just unaware of, or maybe the answer is coming. Anyway, I’m more excited to learn how Spiegelman will play with the story, than to find out how the story actually ends.
Great post — covering many questions we’ll be sure to talk about in class. As for Spiegelman’s choice to portray Poles as pigs…this probably goes back to the racial hierarchy that was the basis for many of Hitler’s policies: at the top, of course, were Aryans, and at the bottom were Jews, commonly described as vermin. The Poles were only a rung above Jews, and were considered by Nazi propaganda to be lazy and dirty — so the pig captures that stereotype perfectly (and also the inanity of the stereotype, as pigs are in fact quite intelligent).