WeeK 7

The Maus series was a little disturbing to read, especially the concept of the Jews being interpreted as mice, and the people of higher power being showed as cats. The story in this comic holds back no fury by showing vividly descriptive was of the hardships that happened during the holocaust and during the world wars. There are some entertaining selections in this comic such as romanticism, and drama. I couldn’t really take some of the concepts seriously due to the fact that the characters were mice. It felt like I was looking at a Tom and Jerry cartoon sequence. I do however; appreciate what the illustrator and writer were getting across by the graphics. The nature of the graphics contained a lot of symbolism and conceptual meanings including the casted shadows and contrast of darkness between characters.

After looking at the cover and reading the prologue I was waiting for the dark parts of the story, which didn’t appear until chapter two which was titled the Honeymoon. This chapter showed the dark side of Jews during the holocaust. The viewer is now introduced to the pigs that are policemen who yell at the mice and torture them. The pigs are also bigger than the mice, which are supposed to pursue dominance. The overall violence was very intense. It was like they were exterminating the mice, which is interpreted for how the Jews were killed in the holocausts. The stories told from Art’s father perspective lead me to see the tragedies in a substantial way.