Maus Review

Maus, I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had Maus sitting on my shelf for years and never picked it up to read. This last weekend my son and I attended Denver Comic Con and I forced him (poor kid) to attend a session about Comic Books and the Common Core. I got many great ideas for my English 9 class and several recommended titles. I figured now was the time to pick up Maus and dedicated a day or two to picking my way through it.

Well...

It was great! This first volume is definitely something I would teach along side Night. It is a memoir just like Night. I enjoy that it is really two stories. The author's father's story of living in Nazi occupied Poland and the author's story of dragging this story out of his father. It works on many levels.

I like that the artwork is simple. It allows the reader to place themselves in these characters shoes. The faces are very simple and it is easy to get characters confused, but I think that is the point. Not a lot of detail is placed in the faces because I think Spiegelman wants us to identify with the characters and place ourselves in their situation.

Some have criticized the fact that Spiegelman uses symbolism for the different races involved in the story, particularly pigs for the Polish. But I think we need to remember that this is memoir and is not presented as history. This is one mans interpretation of history and it is colored by his feelings. I think it helps us to see what the author's father was experiencing and feeling during this terrible time in history. The symbolism of cats carrying out the extermination order of the mice is superb.

And I believe that teaching volume 1 might be more valuable for my Freshman than teaching volume 2. I haven't read volume 2 yet, but I assume that it will be mostly about life in the concentration camp, which is very similar to the main narrative in Night. I think guiding the students through volume 1 of Maus would be more valuable so they see a different story than what is contained in Night.

I will be back for more Spiegelman. I have my order in for volume 2 right now. I hope it ships quickly.

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