The Complete Maus ART SPIEGELMAN
Outline Context Style Characters Themes Different interpretations of the text Essay questions Final tips
Context Centuries of anti-jewish sentiment in Europe Nazi party came to power in 1933 in Germany Germany invaded Poland in 1939, WWII began Jews isolated in ghettoes, and later in concentration camps WWII ends in 1945, Jews disperse around the world Many survivors of concentration camps never overcome the mental trauma
Style Graphic novel Biography and Autobiography Anthropomorphised characters Animal motif Written language Dialogue Narration Visual language Drawings Symbols
Style Three layers of narrative Europe USA (pre publication of part 1) USA (between part 1 and part 2)
Written language Dialogue Narration
Visual language Drawings
Visual language Symbolism
Character Vladek (The survivor?) Hard-worker Tinsmith English tutor Shoemaker General labour assignments Determined
Character Vladek (The survivor?) Neurotic
Character Vladek (The survivor?) Resourceful
Character Vladek (The survivor?) Miserly
Character Art (Like father, like son?) Neurotic, but self-aware
Character Art (Like father, like son?) Patient, up to a point
Character Anja (The missing piece ) Vulnerable
Character Anja (The missing piece ) Beloved, but resented
Other family members Mala Francoise Richieu What role do these people play in shaping Art and Vladek?
Themes Loyalty and Betrayal Guilt Love
Themes Loyalty and Betrayal Betrayal Germans betrayed the Jews who put their trust in them. Poles betrayed Jews Jews betrayed other Jews. Loyalty Anja and Vladek survive because their friends refuse to betray them. Vladek helps out a fellow Jew who is starving.
Themes - Guilt Survivor s guilt Vladek feels guilty about surviving Art feels guilty about not being at Auschwitz Art s guilt about the way he depicted his father Art s guilt about the way he treated his mother
Themes - Love Love for family Maus is a tribute from Art to his father Vladek truly loves his sons, even if he shows it in odd ways Romantic love
Differing interpretations of the text Maus shows humanity at its worst VS Maus shows that people can overcome tragedy Maus is a poignant tribute from a son to his father VS Art Spiegelman exploits his father s suffering in Maus
Differing interpretations of the text Maus shows humanity at its worst evil indifference
Differing interpretations of the text Maus shows that people can overcome tragedy Vladek survives Starvation Exhausting manual labour Beatings Humiliation Typhus Separation from his wife The death of his first-born son His wife s suicide
Differing interpretations of the text Maus is a poignant tribute from a son to his father Art portrays Vladek is a survivor And a loving father
Differing interpretations of the text Art Spiegelman exploits his father s suffering in Maus
VCAA examination questions
Sample examination question 1. The ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author and presented in the selected text 2014 VCAA examination
Sample examination question 2. The structures, features and conventions used by authors to construct meaning in a range of literary texts 2014 VCAA examination
Sample examination question 3. The ways in which authors express or imply a point of view and values 2014 VATE sample examination i. Spiegelman shows us that trauma in one generation can haunt the next. Discuss.
Sample examination question 4. The ways in which readers interpretations of text differ and why Cambridge Checkpoints VCE text guide The Complete Maus 6. Art Spiegelman deals with the Holocaust and his own father s suffering in a flippant way in his graphic novel, Maus. Do you agree?
Finding resources Commercial study guides (Insight, Neap, Cambridge University Press) The Age, text talk Many layers of Maus Podcast, Sunday School with Libbi Gorr (774 ABC Victoria)
Final tips Read/revisit the VCAA Examination report Practise planning essay topics What type of essay question is being asked? What are the key terms? Practise writing under timed conditions Go beyond dialogue in your essay Discuss drawings and symbols
Good Luck!
Character Vladek (The survivor?) Pragmatic Handed food to a Kapo (p222) Befriended a Nazi guard