WHY MAUS?

• There is a difference between bearing witness and telling a narrative.• Bearing witness occurs when the person him/herself was

there to experience the events.• Telling a narrative is when a secondary source is used or

when a person who was there but not an actual participant in events narrates.

A NOVEL ABOUT BEARING WITNESS TO BEARING WITNESS

• There are a decreasing number of people left to bear witness to the events of the holocaust.

• The novel MAUS is a son’s attempt to narrate his father’s experiences but also bear witness to the relationship the two men have.

• Artie, the son, is trying to understand Vladek and what he lived through in an attempt to understand himself and how it affects him today.

LET’S TALK ABOUT TAXONOMY

Is it…• Fiction?• Non-Fiction?• Novel?• Comic Book?• Memoir?• Biography?• Autobiography?

Nobody seems really clear on this point. The Boston Globe and Publisher’s Weekly list it as non-fiction. The Washington Post and The New York Times originally listed it as fiction. Spiegelman himself suggests “non-fiction/mice.”

TAXONOMY (CONT’D)

The debate was so strong as to divide newspaper editors. One NYT editor was purported to say, “let's ring Spiegelman's doorbell.  If a giant mouse answers, we'll put Maus in nonfiction.”

In truth, Maus is both all of these genres and none. It transcends categorization.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Graphic Novel-

A novel with images similar to a comic book. Graphic novels are ______________________ than an ordinary comic book and tend to deal with more

___________________________.

MAUS I—MY FATHER BLEEDS HISTORYOVERVIEW

Title: Maus I—My Father Bleeds HistoryAuthor: Art SpiegelmanPublished: 1973 through 1991Category: Nonfiction

Graphic NovelMemoirBiographyHistorical

MAUS IMY FATHER BLEEDS HISTORY

Art Spiegelman Born in 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden, Art Spiegelman is a naturalized U.S. citizen. While growing up, Spiegelman lived with his parents in Rego Park in the Queens section of New York City. From 1966 to 1989 he worked for Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. illustrating trading cards and stickers including the Garbage Pail Kids series. He has written many comix (underground comics), worked as a New Yorker staff artist and writer, and been a lecturer and teacher at various times in his career. His work has been the subject of special museum and gallery exhibits both in the U.S. and abroad. Maus earned him a special Pulitzer Prize.

MAUS I—MY FATHER BLEEDS HISTORYSUMMARY

Maus is a story within a story: Art Spiegelman, the son of two survivors of the Holocaust, tells how he interviewed his father Vladek about his Holocaust experience, and it tells the story of the father's persecution and survival. It is written in a comic book format, with various types of animals representing the various nationalities and religions (however, Jews are mice, no matter what nationality they are).

PRIMARY SOURCE SIGNIFICANCE?

• One individualized account• pre-war Jewish life; the layout and workings

of Auschwitz (the worst concentration camp); the euphemistic language particular to Auschwitz; survival and resistance; libera tion and the aftermath of war.

CHARACTERSArt(ie Spiegelman):

Author/Narrator & son of Vladek Spiegelman

Vladek Spiegelman:

Father of Art & Survivor of the Holocaust

Anja Spiegelman:

1st wife of Vladek Spiegelman, mother of Art and Richieu.

Mala Spiegelman:

2nd wife of Vladek Spiegelman, survivor of the Holocaust.

Francoise Mouly:

Wife of Art. Although she is French. Art also draws her as a mouse because she converted to Judaism.

VISUAL METAPHORAny visual symbol or picture that is used to represent something else. Visual Metaphors are often used in political cartoons.

Some Poles have found the pig metaphor

to be offensive. Spiegelman relates a

conversation he had with a member of the

Polish press:

CRITICISM

• "[A Polish press attaché] said, 'Do you realize that it is a terrible insult to call a Pole a pig? It's worse than it even sounds in English. Do you realize that the Germans called us schwein [pigs]?'

ART’S RESPONSE

• So I said, 'Yeah, and the Germans called us vermin. These aren't my metaphors. These are Hitler's.' And that gave us common ground. I pointed out that, in the book, there are Jews who act admirably-but there are many Jews in the book who don't. These are just people wearing masks. And the same is true of the Poles. There are some Poles who saved my parents' lives and who were very kind, and there were some who were swine."

MAUS I—MY FATHER BLEEDS HISTORY

GENERAL CHARACTERSMaus I• The Jews are represented by mice. • The Germans are represented by cats. • The Americans are represented by dogs. • The Poles are represented by pigs. Maus II• The Roma (Gypsies) are represented as

gypsy moths. • The British are represented by fish. • The child of a Jew and a German is shown

as a mouse with cat stripes.

LIST CHARACTERISTICS OF A…

LIST CHARACTERISTICS OF A…

LIST CHARACTERISTICS OF A…

LIST CHARACTERISTICS OF A…

"The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.” –Hitler

Visual Metaphors in Maus: The depiction of characters

This quote is written on the copyright page of Maus, why do you think the author placed it there?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________