Respondent: Flashbacks in Maus

The present-tense action is just as significant as the scenes from Vladek’s experiences in the Holocaust, though the latter may be more immediately emotionally gripping. The flashback structure is an integral part of making Maus what it is, which is more than a narrative strictly about the Holocaust. It’s also largely about how we reflect on and relate to our pasts and places in history, about self-reflection and discovery, and how we cope with devastation and times when we suffer the inability to maintain control over our lives. Maus is concerned, ultimately, with the way these things can shape who we are and what we become.

The flashback technique has other immediate effects upon the narrative, as well. For example, the contrast between the present-day scenes of everyday life as we are more likely to understand it and scenes from life as it was during the Holocaust make the atmosphere of both time periods and environments all the more striking.

The strained relationship between Art and Vladek also mirrors the relationship between the reader and Maus itself (and the content it depicts). Being fundamentally rooted in Vladek’s recollections of the past, the injection of the present into the narrative allows for the existence of the character Art, and others, and provides the reader with some context of familiarity to use as a hub for witnessing the horrors of Vladek’s personal accounts, and later reflecting.

Respondent : Joys of black and white

While reading the first readers view of characters and choice of color (or lack there of) of Maus, I could not help but agree with most of the aspects of their view/opinion. It is very true that if color had been chosen to be placed within this graphic novel, it would take from the overall story line of this amazing artistic novel. From every different choice of line there is another reason for its use and purpose. Many times we can see within the first book of Maus a great deal of cross hatching and marking within a page, it creates a great sense of frenzy and almost panic within the artwork, and as the first reader said the use of black and white to create a “black and white” scenario  also adds to this panic. Most people when reading a comic gravitate towards the boldest sections of color, or the set with the greatest amount of motion. Within Maus we are left with only our eyes searching the page for darker areas, usually displaying the most emotion within the panels.

As for the choice to use animals, I agree as well. The beauty of a graphic novel is that even in truth, it can be a work of fiction. The use of animals gives a big of ease to the reader without taking away from the real life story and struggles of the characters.

Respondant – Cats and whatnot

After looking at the original version of Spiegelman’s  three page Maus, I think it really is a great thing that he downplayed the idea of the cat and mouse down to just the talking heads on normal human bodies.  I think the original version was still brutal and realistic in it’s own right, but the representation of dehumanization with so many animal references i think took away from the realism and the emotional connectivity a little bit.  I can understand the cat skull instead of the swastika, but there’s a certain degree of realism that one shouldn’t downplay in a re-telling of a story like this.  The swastika shouldn’t be respected, necessarily, but i’m glad he decided to change it back to the real thing for the final version of Maus, because it’s such a powerful symbol that everyone can relate with, so I feel it draws the reader in closer than the kitty litter and cat skulls of the version before.

I do think that picking cats for the Germans really works for the comic, outside of just the predator/prey realm that it exists in with the Jewish Mice.  I’m not a cat person, so maybe my views on cats are a little slanted, but i don’t really care.  Cats seem to be an indifferent race regardless of what they, or any of their owners, do.  They’ll nonchalantly bring dead mice and birds back to their owners, and they really do everything for their own gain, just like a Nazi for his party.  It’s almost as if they embody the worst parts of human personality, which the inhumanity of the Nazis and the holocaust had in spades.

Searchers: “Getting in Touch with My Inner Racist” and “Random Educational Suppliment”

Wow.

So, I found two sources that seemed applicable, and they could not be more different.

First, lets go with The Random Educational Suppliment!
It is a presentation that was arranged to coincide with a lesson for a 100 level course from a college in Canada. It goes into a lot of depth about the various stylistic choices of Maus. It is long, but has some pretty cool points. If you’re just going to skim it, check out “The Beast Fable” section; it talks about the representation of humans as animals, and the precident for such in other fiction.

Now, I found that one, because this next one I found is really interesting, but almost completely irrelevant to our topic…

Art Spiegelman wrote an article entitled “Getting in Touch with My Inner Racist” for a publication called Mother-Jones. It is worth reading, but has very little connection to Maus. The article is a rather candid, albiet cursory, look at Art Spiegelman’s perception of his own (sometimes subconscious) racism. Like I said, this one is a really interesting.
Check it out!

~ Alex Flores

A few things I found…(searchers)

Here’s a link to a list of graphic novels recommended by Alan Moore:

http://www.readyourselfraw.com/recommended/rec_alanmoore/recommended_alanmoore.html

which I thought was interesting as we just finished reading some things from him. Maus made the list, an excerpt of what Moore said is as follows:

“Since discovering his work in the mid 70’s, I have been convinced that Art Spiegelman is perhaps the single most important comic creator working within the field and in my opinion Maus represents his most accomplished work to date…”

And I thought the idea of the Holocaust being depicted through different art forms was interesting so here’s a link to a collection of various(paintings, drawings, etc) of the holocaust:

http://art.holocaust-education.net/

Searchers – Vica (Nazi Propaganda Comics)

Vincent Krassousky, who was Russian born, produced the Vica comic for the Nazi-controlled government in France during World War II. Duke University’s library has made these comics available for viewing online. The comics consist of the main character, Vica, traveling to England, Russia and America only to find the countries to be complete with chaos, debauchery and poverty particularly compared with Germany and France. Vica was an interesting find compared to Maus, in terms of not only story but propaganda as well. Propaganda in comic form might even take on a special subversive quality as it might be more palatable to the masses, especially the youth who is more likely to read a comic than a pamphlet or book.

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/vica/browsepage.html

Respondent – Pondering Seth’s ‘Jewish-American Gothic’

I find it interesting that Seth feels more “unsettled” by Maus than Watchmen or DKR.  Sure, Maus handles a subject matter that is arguably one of the greater travesties of all time, but, at least in my opinion/experience, Watchmen and DKR handle a subject matter that seems more pertinent (‘modern’ if you will).  Also, and I’ll risk the insensitivy of saying this:  as a consumer of literature, history, etc., etc. throughout my education, I’ve become just the slightest bit desensitized to the setting.  Perhaps it’s the undying cynic in me, but think about it:  when you want a story with a huge emotional impact, there’s no more perfect villain than a Nazi, and no better hero than a Holocaust survivor.

However…

The way Spiegelman tells his story; through the use of the comics form with simplistic iconic art and the modularity of the narrative, constantly skipping back and forth between ‘Present’ and WWII, is what I think makes it something extremely special and worthwhile.  Vladek is a real character, with real motivations, emotions, and complex relationships who faces difficult conundrums in his day to day life as a Jew during WWII, not simply the ‘survivor’ archetype. 

Simultaneously, we are unsure of Art’s intentions.  Is this work meant as a tribute to his father?  Or is it just a vehicle toward fame and fortune?  Or are these books meant to honor entirely different people (as evidenced by the dedications)?  Are his motives selfish or selfless?  And are they less pure than Vladek’s motivations, because they aren’t as necessary as the basest instinct of survival?

Obviously I’ve strayed from the original path.  But that’s the nature of a response, and the beauty of the mind.

Art from Auschwitz-Birkenau & Maus (searcher: elisa ortiz)

This is a fascinating and very powerful site on art produced by inmates, specifically at Auschwitz, during their incarceration.  Here we can see how art can transcend the most horrific of circumstances and the power of the image/art as a form of documentation.  The art work is from a number of artist inmates, with varying degrees of proficiency using a number of different medium: scraps of paper, ink, charcoal, etc.  An interesting fact from the exhibit’s site states: “The majority of artists who worked at Auschwitz were Polish political prisoners, while most who died there were Jewish artists.” While we are understanding Maus through Spiegeleman’s understanding (a son of a Shoah survivor) , this site allows you to see the artistic depictions/expressions of actual survivors. http://lastexpression.northwestern.edu/intro_frameset.htm

Here is another interesting article about an artist and Auschwitz survivor who did many paintings for Josef Mengele.  Stan Lee, Neal Adams and Joe Kubert got together to create a comic telling the story of Dena Babbitt, the survivor, from her youth and early experiences with art to her arrival at Auschwitz and the art she produced there.  Adams, Lee and Kubert have petitioned for a museum that is housing Babbitt’s work to return them to her, something she has had difficulty convincing the museum to do.  It also mentions a graphic novel by Kubert that is also about the holocaust called Yossel.  Kubert is also Jewish and was born in Poland but grew up in the U.S.  I’m really curious to check his comic out when we finish Maus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/arts/design/09comi.html?ex=1376020800&en=ac17ff225d6d9a07&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

and one more on Spiegelman’s Maus and Jewish comic book artists, Jewish graphic novels and their influence on the comic book universe:

http://reformjudaismmag.net/04spring/comics.shtml

Respondents: Thoughts on Vladek and His Accent

Nathalie Asked–Respondents: What do you think of the usage of dialect? Is Vladek the only one to speak in accented English? Is it effective? Confusing? Offensive?

I, for one, am a huge fan of Spiegelman’s usage of dialect in Maus.  Mostly it’s because of how it helps me to immerse myself even further in the story being told. Usually when reading literature where accented dialects are heavily featured, the reader must imagine the story since the information is consumed through words. Maus, in its comic form, gives you a visual to accompany the words. For me, the accented English provides a distinct voice to the narrative and completes the picture. The dialect is an expression of Vladek’s Jewish heritage and that helps to make the story that much more realistic. It’s a constant reminder to me that we’re relearning about the Holocaust through a survivor’s eyes.

The difference in speech also helps distinguish between the present and past at times while reading. We bounce back and forth between the two throughout Maus and just like the change in the shape of a bubble or frame helps to signal to the reader whether it’s a thought or speech, I think Vladek’s accented English pulls you back to the present with Art and away from the story’s setting in the past without being too huge of a distraction. As far as I can tell from what we’ve read so far, Vladek is the only one who speaks in accented English. When Art talks with Mala on pages 92 and 93 after Vladek goes to rest, they are in the present, but her English isn’t accented despite her being a survivor as well. Though we clearly know which character is speaking because we can tell by looking at the illustrations, if one was to erase the bodies of the Art, Vladek, and Mala and leave only the speech bubbles, it would be easiest to figure out which one was Vladek due to his accented speech. I find that especially interesting since, like we discussed in class, the characters all look fairly interchangeable due to the vagueness of their illustration.

Respondent:Vladek’s Accent and Rhythm in Maus

Respondents: What do you think of the usage of dialect? Is Vladek the only one to speak in accented English? Is it effective? Confusing? Offensive?

I mentioned in class how infectious Vladek’s inverted speech patterns become by the end of Maus; it’s almost as though his story makes no sense being told in anything other than his specific voice.  The cadences of his voice somehow add to the overall detached feel lent to the book by the art style: Vladek’s tone and diction seem quaint and foreign to us, enhanced by the pared down, sparse art.

Additionally, the transcriptions Professor Sample showed us in class on Tuesday really drove this point home to me. Not only does actually hearing Vladek speak the lines from the book really bring to life the flow and bounce of his words, but listening to the rhythm of his pedaling and its stop at points of emphasis, I was struck by the overall rhythm of his speech and how integral it is to the impact of Maus.

I guess, in a way, Vladek’s accent ultimately doesn’t even register to me anymore, on my fifth or so Maus readthrough. It’s no longer a Jewish or Polish sounding voice, or even an accented one: it’s just Vladek’s.

Maus, searcher

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/holocaust/spiegelman.html
This site dives more thoroughly into the historical aspects of Maus (European Judaism) and also explores the various underlying themes of the narrative (Art’s and Vladek’s fractured relationship, Vladek’s burning of Anja’s journals, and Art’s transcription of Vladek’s story).

http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/218/projects/oliver/MausbyAO.htm
This site studies the literary form of Maus and how it’s unique delivery casts a different light on the Holocaust.

Respondents – Maus

Nathalie asked, in first reader post:

Respondents: What do you think of the present tense action? Is it necessary? What are some other reasons he might have structured the story with flashbacks intermingled with the present? … What do you think of the usage of dialect? Is Vladek the only one to speak in accented English? Is it effective? Confusing? Offensive?

———————————————————————————————————————————————

I agree that the present time action in Maus is a effective in breaking up the war-time story line. I felt like it kind of brought me back to my senses after reading (and seeing) the startling account of Vladek and Anja’s experiences. I do think that this integration of present time panels is necessary in adding depth to the novel. Spieglman certainly could have made it a strictly 1930s-40s timeline, but the infusion of his experience with his elderly father not only let us know more about the author himself, but most importantly (I think) it gives us depth into Vladek’s character hand how the war effected him for the rest of his life. Through those present time panels, we see how conscious Vladek is of his health, and how frugal he has become. Of course, seeing his experience in the Holocaust explains exactly why.

I enjoyed reading Vladek’s accented dialect. Like someone mentioned in class, after sitting and reading the first book straight through in one sitting,  I couldn’t stop thinking in this inverted accent. It reminded me of my own grandfather (another Polish Jew). I found it very effective; I think it gave Vladek all the more personality. It made him real, gave him roots (which I think is a little more difficult in this particular novel, since there was no longer descriptive passages telling us about Vladek’s history). We hear the story pretty much only through Vladek’s voice and for me,  his accent made it all the more believable and true to life.

Searchers – History and Memory After Auschwitz

Dominick LaCapra’s book History and Memory after Auschwitz traces the impact of the Holocaust on survivors, perpetrators, and the generations of people who came after them.  There is a great chapter on Maus that discusses a number of topics, including the use of animals to create some distance between the reader and the horrific details of the Holocaust; and the personalities and difficult relationship between father and son.  The book is not available at the GMU library, unfortunately.  But there is a Google books version that is pretty comprehensive.  There are some pages left out, but you can find most of the chapter pages.

Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/3UC0lb

Also, here’s a 1991 review by Lawrence Langer of the NY Times (spoiler alert:  if you have not read Maus II I suggest you do not read this article right away).  Langer writes quite a bit about the relationship between Vladek and Artie, as well as their struggle with the loss of Richieun:  “nearly every Holocaust testimony, written or oral, provides [the same melancholy answer]: the dead, those who did not return, have the last word. How could it be otherwise?

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

First Readers: Nathalie, Structure and Such in Maus

What struck me about Maus is the structure of the narrative, which is very self-aware (or dare I say reflexive?). Rather than it just being Spiegelman’s father’s story, it’s a memoir about the whole writing process. At first I found the parts in the present tense distracting—they’re taking away from the meat of the story! However, key facts about the present make you want to keep reading: Anja’s suicide (Why? How? ) and Vladek and Mala’s marriage (Why? How?). Additionally, it’s really easy to get lost and depressed when reading Holocaust fiction or nonfiction. The switch in time literally gives you a break (the presence of relatively short chapters does this too).

Respondents: What do you think of the present tense action? Is it necessary? What are some other reasons he might have structured the story with flashbacks intermingled with the present? How does this compare to Watchmen’s use of the flashback?

Another thing I noticed was the usage of dialect/vernacular/whatever you want to call it. In the present and when he narrates his flashbacks, Vladek speaks in accented English. Yet when the reader is fully submerged in the past, all of the dialogue is in standard/informal English. Compare page 39 with page 37. I think this is just another way Spiegelman tries to suck you into the story.

Respondents: What do you think of the usage of dialect? Is Vladek the only one to speak in accented English? Is it effective? Confusing? Offensive?

Finally, there’s Vladek’s pedaling. What could that possibly symbolize? He does it for medical reasons, but does it contribute to his obsession to survival? Is he somehow “biking through” his past?

First Reader – Jewish-American Gothic – Seth W.

It’s hard to explain, but Maus unsettles me in a way that neither Watchmen nor DKR could.  Maybe it’s that this story is based much closer to reality, but I think it’s just the sheer moral ambiguity and uncertainty that permeates all the characters’ actions.  Vladek’s opportunism and Art’s enthusiastic reactions to getting the material stand out the most in this respect.  Vladek’s attitudes towards relationships and life in general is well-summed up by Mala’s outburst at the end of chapter four, and seems to illustrate his behavior from his own introduction up to our current stopping point.  Everything is so much more personal.

The narration is a little confused, a mix of unreliable first person and limited-omniscient third person (the text boxes and the art/speech bubbles).  Still, this adds to the ambiguity of the entire narrative.  There’s no clear way to say that people are doing the right or wrong things to this point, or even if such distinctions apply given the horrific circumstances.

The art itself is mesmerizing.  It’s abstract in purest form, almost absurdist.  Who would think of writing a comic book about the Holocaust starring funny animals?  It makes no sense to the point where it makes perfect sense.  Irrational divisions defined the whole affair on all sides, and the mental absurdity takes form in the distinctions between nationalities and ethnicities that aren’t actually an integral part of the story.  The Jewish characters during the Nazi occupation wear Stars of David; Vladek appears to wear a stationary pig mask to appear Polish.  The species of the characters do not reflect any actual distinctions; this is an abstraction that makes the whole story all the more terrifying.  How exactly is this piece supposed to make the reader feel?  It’s unsettling and strange.