Françoise Mouly

Maus explains the past and present story of Holocaust survivor Vladek Spiegelman. Art, his son, wrote this graphic novel to learn about his father’s experiences in the Holocaust. He depicts Jews as mice, Germans as cats, and Poles as pigs. It goes through Vladek’s whole journey from marrying his wife, Anja, to ending up in Auschwitz. In “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale”, by Art Spiegelman, the author shows through family relationships, not only the struggles and hardships that Vladek, the main character, endures throughout the Holocaust, but also the difficulties he has appreciating his family after he survives. During the Holocaust the Spiegelman family’s relationships are greatly tested, however even though they face numerous hardships they try to stick together. When Vladek returns from fighting in war, things are tough; his business is destroyed and money is low, but his family is just happy to be together, “It was twelve of us living in father-in-law’s household…‘Each of us gets coupons for 8 ounces of bread a day, and a tiny bit of margarine, sugar, and jam per week. That’s all!’…‘Well, we should be happy we are all together with enough to eat” (74-75). Vladek always has a positive attitude. He supports his family because he knows they need someone to help them so they can survive. For example, as soon as he loses his only source of income, his factory, he decides to search out people he knows in order to find a job in the black market. Illegally Vladek manages to make a few…

It is immensely easy to get distracted in the modern world of technology. Technology companies sprinkle new devices around every corner, boasting new features and forms of entertainment with every new release. With millions of games, movies, TV shows, and books right at our fingertips, technology threatens the life of human interaction, communication, and even relationships. With each passing day, we rely more and more on the technology that seems to consume our lives. Technology is wonderful…

there is no confirmation, this is why Spiegelman chose to depict the Poles as pigs. The kapos in the prison camps were harsh to Vladek and the other Jews. The drinking pigs who managed to smuggle Vladek and Anja into Hungary ended up turning the couple over to Germans. Frogs are representatives of the French people, due to the Flag of Charlemagne, which has three toads on it. The toads are mistakenly understood to be frogs often. There is no other reason for Spiegelman to choose frogs as the…

On April 10, 2017, New Yorker magazine published a water color and black ink cartoon style painting entitled “Broken Windows” by cartoonist Barry Blitt on its cover. (Mouly, 2017) It is a multi-dimensional caricature with the back side of President Donald Trump in the foreground as he hits golf balls towards the White House which sits as a target in the background. The New Yorker, a magazine that has been in circulation since 1925 is published by Conde Nast and although geared to New Yorkers…