Maus - an Enthralling Graphic Novel

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Art Speigelman’s MAUS, is an enthralling graphic novel, written and drawn by Spiegelman himself, which narrates his father, Vladek’s, life during the Holocaust. Vladek’smemories about the Holocaust are brought to life throughout the story while intertwined with Art’s personal account and his perspective. The Holocaust was a ghastly, unforgettable, catastrophe and an unbelievable, horrendous tragedy for the Jewish race. One may never be able to portray the endless, human suffering and depraved episode that occurred in the Holocaust, but Spiegelman’s intriguing narrative captures the terrifying reality of the Holocaust. As Derrick Miller states,“The trouble in conveying a historical event is that, as an author, one has the obligation of showing the reader that the author’s representation is just that, a representation and not the original concept or the entirety of the event; nor told with absolute accuracy.” Miller means that it is impossible for a story to truly capture the full idea of the event it is representing. He also says, “To portray something is to represent it.” An event so devastating, such as the Holocaust, is difficult for one to portray. Jens Berkmeyer stated, “The Holocaust can never be portrayed either correctly or incorrectly.” It is rather a matter of accepting this specific narrative form.” Berkmeyer means also that the Holocaust was such a calamitous event; it will never be portrayed accurately because of brutality of the Jewish race.While writing the novel, Spiegelman realized this himself. At the beginning of the chapter he states to wife “I mean, I can’t even make any sense out of my relationship with my father…how am I supposed to make any sense out of Auschwitz?...of the Holocaust?” (Spiegelman 14). Spiegelman is clearly struggling trying to portray his father’s life in the Holocaust accurately. Though it is difficult to portray the emotion

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