Steve's Reviews > The Complete Maus
The Complete Maus
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It didn’t dawn on me until later that this brilliant piece of graphic artistry and fiction is actually a very clever allegory. On the face of it, we’re led to believe that it’s a story of the terrible suffering perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland and throughout Europe. But if you scratch beneath the surface, I think you’ll find that this particular holocaust story was made to symbolize something more pervasive and endemic. I speak of the horrific violence that persists to this day; that inflicted by cats on defenseless mice. Perhaps the most obvious clue that this is, in truth, the intended theme lies in the title itself: Maus. For those of you unfamiliar with German, this is their word for mouse. Beyond that, when you look carefully at the drawings, you see that the goose-steppers have distinctly feline features, while the persecuted Jews in the ghettos and camps have rodent-like proboscides and disproportionately small eyes.
Cat on mouse violence is so old and pervasive that, in a way, we’ve become desensitized to it. Countless depictions of it in the arts have made it a stale, clichéd topic; almost cartoonish at times. That’s why I thought it was particularly effective to tell the story allegorically. When seen through the lens of the Jewish experience, and with Spiegelman’s masterstroke of personalizing the story by laying bare the difficult relationship he had with his father (the survivor), the residuum of cat brutality that can literally tear mice families apart is brought home to us in a very different way.
Original: Mar 9, 2012
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Addendum: Aug 23, 2013
This still ranks as my top graphic novel of all time, but I just finished Chris Ware's Building Stories which gives it a pretty good run for the money. The suffering in that one may not be as extreme, but it's every bit as real.
Cat on mouse violence is so old and pervasive that, in a way, we’ve become desensitized to it. Countless depictions of it in the arts have made it a stale, clichéd topic; almost cartoonish at times. That’s why I thought it was particularly effective to tell the story allegorically. When seen through the lens of the Jewish experience, and with Spiegelman’s masterstroke of personalizing the story by laying bare the difficult relationship he had with his father (the survivor), the residuum of cat brutality that can literally tear mice families apart is brought home to us in a very different way.
Original: Mar 9, 2012
------------------------
Addendum: Aug 23, 2013
This still ranks as my top graphic novel of all time, but I just finished Chris Ware's Building Stories which gives it a pretty good run for the money. The suffering in that one may not be as extreme, but it's every bit as real.
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Finished Reading
March 9, 2012
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Steve
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Mar 10, 2012 12:26AM
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Have you read his 9/11 one?
I hadn't heard about In the Shadow of No Towers, but from the description it sounds good. Joshua, I see it got 4 stars from you.
The 2nd one I read was Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic. and I really want to read Persepolis.
To be honest, I was surprised to be one of the few to pick up on this. Maybe, as you say, the tendency among clever goodreaders is to look for the less obvious.
I've been curious about the Bechdel book. She's very literary, I hear, for that kind of art form. I saw Persepolis as a movie and thought it was well done. Hope it's even better on the page.
It's alright, Garima. You could be like me, having devoted an obscene amount of my lifespan to graphic novels and the like. Better a yet to be had first experience than a history of unhealthy obsession.
@Garima -- Not that I'm a connoisseur, but I do know there is a lot of awesomeness there to be had. This would be a good intro to the form, I think. (view spoiler)
@Aubrey -- Your obsession has had no ill effects that I can see. If anything, your literary attainments seem decidedly superior to those of your peers who feasted on printed words only.
Heh. I was very fortunate in it resulting like that, I assure you.
@Garima -- No..."
Ah, my weak spot!
That's an interesting point I hadn't really considered, Cecily. The analogy doesn't really work when we consider cats and mice as part of nature's food chain. The morality of cat behavior is questioned only in a knowingly silly or wrong, anthropomorphized way. Not so with Nazis and Jews. I suppose we could argue, pessimistically, that the atrocities are part of the nature of man, but I think most of us still reserve the right to feel moral outrage.
I'd say that Maus is worth picking up even if the analogy is less than perfect. There are plenty of other reasons to appreciate it.
So I've heard, but graphic novels are not really my thing anyway, so I doubt I will. Thanks for an interesting review, though.
I'm beginning to get that feeling. Thanks.
I'm beginning to get that feeling...."
Let me know if you do. I'd really love to know what you think.
This is a fantastic review. I'm so glad you added the addendum so I could read er early. Whenever I figure out how to reclaim time, there are bunches of your reviews I have yet to read.
Ole Proust is rappin about reclaiming past-time, but I need a way to reserve future time, dangit!
Cats would never be Nazis. Order? Discipline? Obedience? Marching in ranks? Wearing costumes? Your cat is laughing at your gullibility, and also considering peeing on your boot.
Hope the new configuration is working well for you!
It's working well for me. The others I'm not so sure about. I do move when our TV interests coincide occasionally. I even watched Australia's Next Top Model last night! And taking sides.
Like Hitler, perhaps, cats probably can't believe how easily manipulated humans are.
Oh God, you're so right, Miriam! Trying to visualize the "marching in ranks" part made me realize the absurdity of the whole proposition (and made me laugh more than any lolcat ever has).
Cats could be dictators but never lackeys.
Also, war often involves that whole "short rations" thing that I don't visualize being a hit with felines.
Fingers crossed! :) Maybe we all need to just become comatose, retreat inside our own minds and communicate via telepathy??
I'm on the fence about reading the entire series, at the moment. There are moments where a scene shines brilliantly and will hold my interest for two or three pages. Afterward comes a ten page stretch where I nearly fall asleep. To be fair, Proust's writing style is not my favorite. I see why other people would enjoy it, it's just not for me.
Cats could be dictators but never lackeys."
It would be a short reign of terror, at least. I've never known a cat to pay prolonged attention to anything!
I'm not sure that a cat's patience and attention means that it's ready for Proust -- I think it means it's ready to pounce on anything unsuspecting. :-)
The strange thing about him, when I reach one of those nice cozy moments, the mental picture involves a warm fire, pajamas, and a kitty curled upon my lap :D Can't dislike a writer capable of conjuring that image :)
With all the twistedness, I'm hoping for one bit of clarification. When the old man swallowed himself, what happened to the undigested spoon? I hope his wife got that back, at least.
BTW, you're right, Mark, that my appetite's been suppressed.