The Holocaust Through the Eyes of Vladek: An Autobiographical Tale in Maus
Maus is a graphical novel that is autobiographical in nature, the writer Art is interviewing his father Vladek about the things that happened during the Holocaust. His father begins by explaining the way that life was before the Holocaust where he was financially stable because he had his factory, but how things changed during the Holocaust and he lost everything he had (Spiegelman, 2005). Vladek tells of the tales that happened to him and his wife Anja during that time, indicating how they were captured and imprisoned by the Germans because they were Jews. He also explains how they lost their first born son Richieu in the course of all these events and how at one time he was separated from his wife Anja giving a basic illustration of how bad things were during that
...period (Spiegelman, 2005). Batman: The Knight Returns is all about the way that Batman at old age and after his retirement goes back to the streets to fight crime (Miller et al. 2002). The story explains the problems that he faces even from the higher administration who seek the help of Superman to fight Batman, who seem to be exposing some of the secrets of the government (Miller et al. 2002).
The plots in the two stories are dissimilar in that Maus has been set in the early years during the World War II, the events are related to the wealthy times that Vladek lived and the poverty times that came after. The Knight Returns, on the other hand, is set in a dehumanizing near- future where people are no longer safe, and the government that is supposed to protect th
people is not responsible but exploits the people (Miller et al. 2002). The themes in both these books are similar because they relate the suffering that people go through under the authority that they are supposed to trust and rely on for safety. One of the themes that are displayed in both these books is the misuse of power, the Jews in Maus are killed and their property was taken in the place that they had called home for many years by the Nazi government that was supposed to be ensuring that their rights were protected (Spiegelman, 2005).
In The Knight Returns, people live in fear and their property is taken by the gangs in the city and the government does not bother to do anything about all this. When Batman decides it is time to protect the people, the government instead of joining him, treat him like a villain himself, and he is almost killed (Miller et al. 2002). Another theme that is prevalent in the books is suffering; the people in these two books undergo a lot of suffering in their day to day activities because of the maliciousness of particular groups of individuals in the society. In Maus, the Jews experience suffering because of the Germans whose desire is to eradicate them (Spiegelman, 2005). While in The Knight Returns the people in the society suffer under the hands of the criminal gangs that steal and kill them for their personal gains (Miller et al. 2002).
Art Spiegelman’s format in this book is very effective in delivering the message in his book; people can easily relate to the animal characters that he uses to represent
different groups of individuals. This format is particularly very easy to relate to the theme of power where the Jews are given the animal character of a mouse while the Germans are the Cats and the Americans the Dogs. It is a basic illustration of the discrimination that prevailed in that period.
References
- Miller, F., Janson, K., Varley, L., & Costanza, J. (2002). Batman: The Dark Knight returns.
New York: DC Comics. - Spiegelman, A. (2005). Maus: A survivor's tale. New York: Pantheon.
