Bizarre Take #10: Final thoughts on Maus!

Bizarre Take #10: Final thoughts on Maus!



Finally finished reading Maus this week! What a rollercoaster of emotions, this was. There were so many instances filled with nostalgia that really gave us a personalized view of Vladek’s life, and allowed us to learn a bit more about his character dynamic. For example, when Archie deep dived into Vladek’s backstory, we can see the drastic impact it had on his father. Vladek acquired a lot of trauma from these horrific events that Archie emphasized throughout both volumes. He lost his first son, Richeu, lost his wife Anja in a terrible tragedy, and was left to live with the horrifying survivors' guilt. For example, in one of the panels, we can see Vladek describing to his son in detail how he was drafted into the army and was forced to fight on the sidelines. He is shown lying down on the ground, and in a similar panel, Artie is also shown lying down in the same position. These two ideas parallel
together very well, and emphasize the intergenerational trauma being embedded into Artie.


 Moving into Volume 2 of Mays. I noticed a lot more recurring motifs that Artie spread out to show their impact on Vladek and his story surviving the Holocaust. One of the main motifs I noticed were masks. Masks are a symbol of identity. For example, when Anja and Vladek are attempting to escape the Nazis and avoid being seen, they are seen wearing masks. This shows how Jews were forced to adapt a new identity in order to stay alive. They had to hide their true selves in fear of being recognized by the intimidating germans, something that most jews became

used to. Artie also used a lot of dialogue, such as Vladek and Anja learning German, to show how Jews had to make a lot of changes to their lives in hopes of staying hidden. Another main motif was trains. Trains were a way for the Germans to transport the jews, and showed the painful experiences they went through throughout the Nazi control. Overall this book was a really good read, and introduced me to a lot more perspectives than what i had previously known. What a wonderful read!

  • literary critic,

  • prisha 

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