Maus

Question 1

Audience

Answer 1

young adult audience with interest in history and graphic novels

Question 2

Tone and Mood

Answer 2

• reflective
• complex mood changes
• includes tragedy and despair
• but also hope and preservance
• humor (mostly about relationship with his father)
• somber and serious (during recounts of Nazi Society)

Question 3

Literary Devices

Answer 3

• Anthrophomorphism: different groups of people are represented by different animals (Mice - jewish, Cats - Nazis, Pigs - polish); simplify and heighten emotional impact of story & potray Holocaust as typical Cat&Mouse Game
• Foreshadowing: small changes in background of panels hint towards development towards Holocaust (Nazi Flags more commonly shown); Chapter titles and drawings foreshadow what will happen in each chapter (ex. Mouse Holes - many mice hidden in hole in wall)
• Symbolism: various symbols used (swastika → nazi regime, train → evolving of ideas/regime, etc.)
• Irony: cat and mouse allegory (seemingly absurd comparison), vladek’s personality/survival (unlikable character but deserves respect for living through holocaust)

Question 4

Layout and Structure

Answer 4

Framing device: story in a story:
* Part 1 introduces relationship between Art and his father, and Vladek’s experiences during early stages of Holocaust
* Part 2 continues story of Vladek’s experiences in concentration camps and his eventual reunion with his wife, Anja
* final chapter of comic focuses on Art’s struggles to understand his father’s experiences and the difficulties they face in their relationship

Flashbacks:
* story alternates between present day and Vladek’s experiences during the war
* emphasis on his relationships with other prisoners and relationship with Anja
* comic includes photographs and documents from Vladek’s life to add authenticity and realism to the story

Question 5

Comic Layout

Answer 5

• A tier: a series of frames that fills the whole width of a comic-book page
• Panel: an individual frame, or single drawing
• Bleed: An image that extends to and/or beyond the edge of the page
• Foreground: The details in the panel that appears the closest
• Midground:
  artist deliberately decides to place image where a viewer would look first
  Placing an image off-center or near the top or bottom can be used to create visual tension
• Background: Provides additional, subtextual information for the reader
• Graphic Weight:
  create a definite focus using color and shading
• dark-toned images or high-contrast images draw eye more than light or low-contrast images do

Question 6

Figures

Answer 6

• Faces:
  Can be dramatic when placed against a detailed backdrop; bright white face stands out
  drawn without much expression or detail (open blank) and invites the audience to know what the character is feeling without telling them
• Hands/feet:
  positioning of hands and feet can be used to express what is happening in the story
  Ex: Hands over the mouth depict fear, shame, or shyness

Question 7

Text

Answer 7

• Captions:
  Boxes containing a variety of text elements: scenesetting, description
• Speech Balloons:
  enclose dialogue and come from a specific speaker’s mouth (vary in size, shape)
  External dialogue: speech between characters
  Internal dialogue: a thought enclosed by a balloon that has a series of bubbles going up to it
• Special effects lettering:
  Method of drawing attention to text; it often highlights onomatopoeia (Ex: BANG)

Question 8

Themes

Answer 8

• Identity: characters drawn as their identity/ethnicity; displays jews hiding their true identity to survive; shows Art struggling with identity as child of survivors
• Trauma: lasting impact of Holocaust on Vladeks mental health; generational trauma of wars from Vladek’s father down to Art
• Guilt/Responsibility: characters feeling guilty for death of loved ones; putting guilt on audience

Question 9

Historical Context

Answer 9

• published in the 1980s: Art Spiegelman interviews his father about his experiences during World War II
• was published when the memory of the Holocaust was still in people’s consciousness
• Various families were still suffering under the consequences due to their parent’s/grandparent’s horrible experiences as the book explores the effects of the Holocaust on survivors and their families

Question 10

On the Author

Answer 10

• Art Spiegelman is an American author and cartoonist
• His parents: Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States
• Spiegelman was deeply influenced by their experiences, important witness to their story
• Published the book as an autobiographical work, published in two volumes in both 1986 and 1991
• After multiple years of interviewing and researching on his father, he creates Maus
• Portrays his father as Vladek Spiegelman and outlines his survival
• Became involved in the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s, worked for various comic magazines and publishers - connection to the depiction through a comic