Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Reading Response #6: Maus
Some critics have argued that all history does not have a lesson to teach us. Writing about the Holocaust, Jonathan Rosen asks, "Why should we assume there are positive lessons to be learned from [the Holocaust]? What if some history does not have anything to teach us? What if it does not make us better? What if, walking through the haunted halls of the Holocaust Museum, looking at evidence of the destruction of European Jewry, visitors do not emerge with a greater belief that all men are equal but with a belief that man by nature is evil?" For this reading response, I'd like you to use Art Spiegelman's Maus to attempt to answer these questions. How does Maus provide an answer to Rosen's accusations? Do we learn something from this representation of the Holocaust; if so, what? As always, make sure to use particular evidence from the text to prove a focused point. Reading responses to Maus are due by class time on Thursday, March 23.
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Maus has a bittersweet feel to it. The father of the novel, Vladek, shows in his character the affects of the Holocaust by his hoarding behavior, his reactions to the thought of his wife, his stories, his unwillingness to spend money, his gruff demeanor, and how he handles every day emotion and get triggered by certain things. The same can be said of his wife, Mala. Art himself also seems to be greatly affected by the Holocaust, even though he personally did not live through it, but he seems consistently effected by his parents and their experiences, and seems to have an air of guilt about him, for having an easier life than his parents. An example of this would be the comic he made about his mother's life, showing her struggles, her grief, and her hardships. This novels seems to advocate against the Holocaust in a very personal way; through the character's experiences, their emotions and how these events affected them forever. One character that stands out in particular is Anja, who not only commits suicide but shows consistently throughout the novel that her experiences toll on her so much to the point that she doesn't want to live anymore; such as shortly after she gave birth and Vladek had to rush to her side because she was so depressed that she wouldn't get up from the couch and couldn't take care of herself.
ReplyDeleteI think this novel answers these questions that Jonathan Rosen asks in an indirect way. It shows both sides of what he is asking; both good and bad. Although the characters in this novel are all clearly severely affected by the Holocaust in a way that has made them all damaged beyond repair, Vladek shows through his stories that his experiences had given him wisdom, experiences, depth greater than he ever would have gained without such struggles and experiences. Through suffering and struggling, one can gain a certain strength and through that strength, a certain unwavering joy or strength that cannot be taken away. Although Vladek shows in the present part of the story he still struggles, his stories reveal a depth about his character that wouldn't have existed otherwise.
I am not necessarily saying that the novel is advocating that the Holocaust shows the good of humanity or is trying to show that it was a good thing to happen. But by reading this novel, which is solely about one's personal experiences and struggles through the Holocaust, it is in a sense the same experience as "walking through the haunted halls of the Holocaust Museum", if not more powerful because it is a personal experience, and as reader it seems to be a common response to the novel that we do not respond to the novel by disgust against humanity and assuming "that man by nature is evil", but rather it gives an intense sympathy and understanding for the character and what they went through. This is not a story of one-dimensional characters that are either strictly good or strictly bad; it shows the good and bad about humanity, and how even in the hardest of circumstances, hope and the good of humans can shine through, such as all the characters that allowed Anja and Vladek to hide in their basements when they needed refuge. The novel advocates for the strength of humans even under unthinkable conditions and circumstances, and the kindness and complexity of mankind even when one has every reason not to. As humans, we will always be suffering, we will always be making mistakes, and we will always be going through hardships. Stories about tragedies like the Holocaust teaches us a lesson simply in showing how strong a human soul can be through those incredibly difficult times, and how one can survive and come through it in the end, and that there is always companionship and hope found somewhere, such as what Vladek found in Anja.
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ReplyDeleteMany times, history seems to be just stories that are told to future generations with no purpose. Jonathan Rosen wonders if there even are positive lessons to be learned from the Holocaust. In fact, he questions if maybe we are not made better from the learning of history but instead start to think that all humans are inherently evil. Art Spiegelman attempts to tell the story of the atrocities of the Holocaust in his comic book, Maus, and through that the reader is able to learn about this history and hopefully become better because of it.
ReplyDeleteIn Maus, Art Spiegelman demonstrates how history affects a person, through telling the story of his dad. His father, Vladek, continues to demonstrate particular traits that he developed during the Holocaust. On page 64 of book two, it shows how Vladek saves everything because he recognized the established trade rates during the Holocaust and learned how to survive by being conservative. On page 99 of book two, Vladek is shown to be racist towards African Americans. He does not think being racist towards this group of people is wrong, even though he experienced extreme racism towards the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Through these two instances, it is clear to see how a person’s history ultimately affects them in the future. Therefore, when we consider Rosen’s question of if history does have anything to teach us, we can understand that it does. History teaches us why certain beliefs are established, which allows us to have a greater understanding of the basis of the racism that exists nowadays.
On page 45 of book two, Art asks what the point of writing so many books about the Holocaust is if people aren’t changed by them. This is similar to the questions Rosen is asking about whether there are positive lessons to be learned from the Holocaust. Maus emphasizes the importance of learning from a reliable source, as Art tries to learn as much as he can in order to better relate to the situation. From learning about the Holocaust, we can understand what occurred so history does not repeat itself. When Art is talking to his father and he sees that he is racist and tries to save everything, Art sees the flaws in his father and realizes that he does not want to be like him in these ways. Similarly, when we as the audience read about the Holocaust, we learn what occurred and recognize the flaws that took place throughout history, so they are not repeated in the future.
Rosen also questions if as we learn about the Holocaust, we will begin to view the human race as evil, instead of learning that all men should be treated as equal. Throughout the book, Art describes how he struggles to understand what really occurred during the Holocaust due to not being there. He questions certain things, like why the Jews did not fight back on page 73 of book two. Like Art, we were not present during the Holocaust, therefore we cannot view the human race as evil because we do not understand all of what happened at that time. Since we do not have this understanding, it is hard for us to assume that the world is evil just because of this situation. Instead, it is more likely that people are to learn from the Holocaust and begin to think that each race needs to be acknowledged and treated equal.
The representation of the Holocaust in Maus shows the reader what history should not be repeated, as we learn the evils that occurred during this time. The history of the Holocaust teaches us something, as we see in Art’s understand of why his father is the way he is. We can learn about this piece of history and realize the cause of some of our present day issues. At the same time, we, like Art, recognize the flaws that are due to the evil of the time period and know that we do not want those evils repeated. Since there are positive lessons from the Holocaust, hopefully we can become better people as we seek to not repeat this part of history in the future.
I think that there are positive lessons that can be learned from even atrocities like the Holocaust. While, yes, it is beyond clear that there is evil in the world—we didn’t need to read Maus to know that the Holocaust demonstrates some of the deepest levels of human evil—it also shows through these horrors, there are people who are able to shine their light to others, and those who are able to survive.
ReplyDeleteOne time in Maus that we see the good of people is when we find ordinary people hiding Vladek, his wife, and other Jews throughout the book. There are several times when this happens, and while many of these people only help Jews in exchange for payment, they are still willing to put their own and their families’ lives on the line. Additionally, the Jews themselves can be seen hiding members of their own families; when Vladek and his family hear that the elderly are being taken away, they hide the elderly members of their family so that they will not be taken, despite the risk that it is to the rest of the family.
Another time in which we see people doing good despite their circumstances is when Vladek and Anja have been taken to Auschwitz. Here, Vladek describes a young Hungarian girl named Mancie who helped the couple find each other and communicate. Multiple times throughout the chapters describing Auschwitz Vladek mentions how dangerous it was for Mancie to help him and Anja, and how much trouble she would have been in and how badly it would have gone for her (and the two of them) if she had been caught. Nevertheless, she continued to help them; on page 213 (of my version), Vladek quotes Mancie as saying “If a couple is loving each other so much, I must help however I can.” Just before that, Vladek had explained how if Mancie got caught taking Anja food from Vladek, she would be killed—yet she did it anyways, just as she always took things between the two of them. We also see Mancie’s kindness when she helps Anja, and the other women under her, to keep away from labor that is too hard for them, and when she gets Anja jobs in the kitchen where she can work more easily. Mancie’s kindness shines through even the deplorable acts of the German soldiers; despite her fear and the threats to her life and well-being (as well as her being could be in the concentration camp), she helped others because she knew and believed that it was right.
These are just two examples of the lesson I believe that we can learn from Maus: that even in the darkest of times and against the evilest of people there is a light in people who can be good despite what is going on around them; despite threats of death or bodily harm, despite their own situation, and despite what others are telling them, there are people who do what they know is right. This, like Life is Beautiful shows us the strength of the human spirit, although in a different way. Through Maus we see the strength of Mancie’s human spirit, to do what good she can despite her circumstances; through Life is Beautiful, we saw the strength of the human spirit to withstand the evil it is surrounded by. Both lessons are important, neither more than the other, and both are powerfully taught by the story of the Holocaust.
Many critics have argued that history does not teach us a lesson for the present. However, there are positive lessons to be learned from periods such as the Holocaust even though it was such a terrible time in the world. Maus by Art Spiegelman is one source that can prove that there are still good things that come out of something that was so terrifying and awful. It provides a way we can learn from and not repeat in the future. We can reference back to those times to gain knowledge and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThe saying “learn from your mistakes” is a timeless saying that is very commonly used today. When we do something wrong as a child and are corrected by our parents, we tend not to make that mistake again. The Holocaust was not necessarily a mistake, but the meaning of the saying is that we learn from the negatives of that event or in life, and use it to prevent the same from happening. It makes us better when we can learn from the past. The Holocaust was a time where a man by the name Adolf Hitler believed that his race, the Germans, were superior and the Jews were inferior. Hitler wanted to wipe the Jews out, and his followers were called the Nazis. The Nazis were racially profiling the Jews, and we use this genocide as an example when talking about racial profiling. It is an example of how when we discriminate and racial profiling, not only people get hurt and killed, but society also breaks down.
Unfortunately, there is still racial discrimination and profiling today. Much of the past can be learned from, but a lot of the time people do not learn from it. That is the counter argument here. Although the history clearly teaches a lesson that profiling is wrong, it does not mean it will stop it all together. Individuals decide whether or not to learn and take in the lesson taught, but it is still an example/lesson nonetheless. It’s a positive one because although it does involve people dying, ultimately, it’s showing that those things can be avoided if you learn the lesson that is given.
Maus, by Art Spiegelman, is a source that can continually be used as a lesson for the future even though it is a cartoon. The graphic novel moves the reader to feel the emotions of the characters so that we might better understand what they were facing. I do not think that the story is showing the good in humanity, but rather that it is good to learn from traumatic events such as the Holocaust. Walking through a Holocaust Museum is similar in the sense that we recognize what happened to people was terrible but we can better grasp what they experienced. For example in Maus, when we see the “rats” on pages 154 and 155, they are wearing masks to hide their identity. This happens throughout the book. It is sad to see that the Jewish people felt that being themselves was wrong. This was not a good thing, but we learn to be aware of how we are making people feel and to avoid racism at all costs because we understand the affects of it.
Nevertheless, it is quite clear that there is and has always been evil in the world. Maus is just one example of how evil was demonstrated, but it also captures the good that can shine through all of the darkness. We as readers can see the perseverance of human beings in which though they face many obstacles they do not let it break them, but instead make them stronger. There are in fact good things that come out of bad or evil situations; we just have to choose to use the tools they provide us with and pay attention to how we can better this world from the past.