This week in AP English, we read and analyzed the book Maus by Art Spiegelman. This was the first time in a while that I actually read a graphic novel. I have read small comics before but nothing like this, and I sure missed out on a lot. Without all the pictures this book would still be good, but not amazing like it is now. Each page, each frame, each speech bubble, was thought out very carefully and they all a deeper meaning that is just waiting to be brought out. As we analyzed this book, there were a couple of specific things that stood out to me when we talked about them. First being the level of English language that is spoken by Vladek. Second being the relation of the format of the boxes to the actual war.
Talking about the way that Vladek speaks, kind of reminded me of my grandfather. The reason that Vladek can't talk in normal English, even though he has lived in America for a long time, is because he can't get over his traumatic experiences from the war and him constantly reliving his memories doesn't allow Vladek to move on. He is stuck in the past forever. Not to the extent that Vladek had it, my grandfather is similar, in that even though he has lived in America for a long time and has been speaking English for a majority of his life, he still can't speak it to the extent of some kids who are still learning English.
The second thing that we talked about was the borders of the boxes in the novel. Sometimes the boxes were broken and other times they were straight and strong. The broken format represented the nonexistent boundaries that the Nazis were trying to take over. How they wanted more land and they broke into others land. The closed boxed represented the oppression and the confinement that the Jews had to go through in the war.
The last analysis that stood out to, but was not talked about in class was the page to the right of this text. In this page Vladek is getting angry that Art's wife is giving a black man a ride to his home. This is ironic because Vladek is treating the black man the same way the Nazis treated the Jews. In addition, when Francoise told Vladek about his "outrageous[ness]," Vladek responded with that the black men are WORSE than the Nazis. Art even depicts this by drawing the black man as a dog. This shows how dogs are the worst as the cats and the mice are both afraid of the dogs. Then the cats are next as only mice are afraid of cats. And finally mice are at the bottom of the "food chain." This representation really stood out to me and showed me that some people will never learn better and will never think that others might feel the same way as themselves.
Talking about the way that Vladek speaks, kind of reminded me of my grandfather. The reason that Vladek can't talk in normal English, even though he has lived in America for a long time, is because he can't get over his traumatic experiences from the war and him constantly reliving his memories doesn't allow Vladek to move on. He is stuck in the past forever. Not to the extent that Vladek had it, my grandfather is similar, in that even though he has lived in America for a long time and has been speaking English for a majority of his life, he still can't speak it to the extent of some kids who are still learning English.
The second thing that we talked about was the borders of the boxes in the novel. Sometimes the boxes were broken and other times they were straight and strong. The broken format represented the nonexistent boundaries that the Nazis were trying to take over. How they wanted more land and they broke into others land. The closed boxed represented the oppression and the confinement that the Jews had to go through in the war.
The last analysis that stood out to, but was not talked about in class was the page to the right of this text. In this page Vladek is getting angry that Art's wife is giving a black man a ride to his home. This is ironic because Vladek is treating the black man the same way the Nazis treated the Jews. In addition, when Francoise told Vladek about his "outrageous[ness]," Vladek responded with that the black men are WORSE than the Nazis. Art even depicts this by drawing the black man as a dog. This shows how dogs are the worst as the cats and the mice are both afraid of the dogs. Then the cats are next as only mice are afraid of cats. And finally mice are at the bottom of the "food chain." This representation really stood out to me and showed me that some people will never learn better and will never think that others might feel the same way as themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment