Mauschwitz versus Auschwitz
Art Spiegelman begins his portrayal of actual camp life in part two of Maus with an opening that seems to mock the stark reality of what transpired behind the gates of Auschwitz. The title he gives his introduction is Mauschwitz, which successfully follows Spiegelman's metaphor, but undoubtedly gives the situation a more playful mood (and if playful seems ridiculous how about a less deadly mood). But I feel this is not his real attempt to convey the reality of the ungodliness of the camps, this he does in the next chapter entitled Auschwitz. The similarity in the two titles is not accidental nor should it be overlooked by readers because it points out the fact that there are two separate stories Spiegelman tells; his father's story of survival and his own story of accepting his father for what he is and what made him that way. The opening scene of Mauschwitz, as well as the opening scene of the second book, is of Art arguing with Francoise about how she should be portrayed in the book, something that couldn't have less to do with the story of his father's survival. But upon looking back at thi
Spiegelman's Maus is not just another book about the Holocaust, it is a book about human and family relationships. He knew when starting that he wasn't going to be able to write a book about the Holocaust that would be a one of a kind and one that would make his father proud, but his book was about so much more, and I think if Vladek Spiegelman was alive to read it he would be proud of his little Richieu. Just from the picture on the title page of the second chapter a much darker tone is set by Spiegelman: burning corpses with life sized flies drawn on the page. But surprisingly he jumps right into his own problems by letting the metaphor down and showing himself in a mouse mask while working on the book. He is over a pile of bodies, and has "time flies" all around him with a camp watchtower outside his window. He in effect is saying that he lives in a Holocaust of his own, one not of physical torture and beatings but of mental abuse caused by his failure to come to terms with his father and what his father went through, and the thought that perhaps he has done his father and his religion an injustice in writing this bo
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Approximate Word count = 764
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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