Maus by Art Spiegelman

The mice in Maus are if anything more human than human beings because they embody all of the ideals that humans prize. This fact is heightened by these characters being portrayed as mice--the characteristics we see in them are not the characteristics of mice and are seen in sharper relief as human concerns transferred to the world of the mice.

The family relationships in Maus also say much about what it means to be human and how the family has a role in maintaining that sense of humanity. At the same time, family tensions show generational differences, differences in experience, and differences in the view of how personal that experience may be. In this case, the story itself is projected into the world of mice by the artist/author, who is telling his own and his father's stories through this particular medium and with these particular characters. Vladek is the

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happens again when Vladek sees Ilzecki, and Ilzecki takes him into his home to protect him (I 80). In such times, sacrifice comes in many forms--Ilzecki gives up his son to others to raise, and the son lives; Vladek's wife refuses to do the same with her son, and he does not survive (I 81). The humanity of many of these characters is taken away from them because they do not fight back as earnestly or as soon as they might have. They seem to have accepted the guilt the universe was placing on them and saw these events as their punishment. The mice in Maus are thus accepting of their fate, and while what is happening frightens them and seems far out of proportion to any crime they may have committed, they do seem to believe that they must have committed such a crime and that punishment cannot be escaped. They also do not appear able to believe that one group could treat another group in such a terrible way, though they have ample evidence that this is really happening. When they reach Auschwitz--or rather, Mauschwitz--Vladek and the others clearly know what will happen to them and seem again resigned to their fate. Vladek meets many people in his travels, people of different nationalities, and people who treat him in diffe
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Art Spiegelman, Ilzecki Ilzecki, Edmund Burke, Vladek's Richieu, Jews Germans, Vladek SS, Auschwitz--or Mauschwitz--Vladek, Jews Nazis, York Pantheon, world mice, , spiegelman art, art maus, york pantheon, mice maus, evil nazis, family father, comic book, spiegelman art maus,
Approximate Word count = 1208
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)