Maus: A Survivor's Tale: A Graphic Novel

Bibliographic Information: Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus: A Survivor's Tale. New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books. ISBN: 0394747232

Plot Summary: Maus: A Survivor's Tale is a biography of the author's father's recollections of the Holocaust as a Polish Jew. The characters of the novel are represented as animals. The Jews are drawn as mice, the Germans are depicted as cats, the Poles are drawn as pigs and the Americans as dogs. The animals are symbolic of the different nationalities. As an example, the Jews are depicted as mice or vermin which symbolizes the resourcefulness and resilience many Jews showed during the Nazi invasion. The Nazis were unable to completely wipe them out. It took Spiegelman thirteen years to complete this novel.

Vladek Spiegelman tells his terrifying story of surviving the Nazi invasion to his son, Art Spiegelman, who is a cartoonist. Vladek relates the horrors of hiding, relocating and attempting to survive the Nazi invasion and Auschwitz. Maus explores the complex relationship between father/son and Vladek's sadness of losing his first wife and love, Anja,who committed suicide.

Critical Evaluation: Maus: A Survivor's Tale is amazing. As a reader who normally avoids cartoons/graphic novels, Art Spiegelman does a miraculous job of depicting emotions through the animal characters in this graphic novel. Not only does he capture emotions, but he also captures language accents through purposeful misspellings of words. Maus a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book and it is very much deserving of this honor.

Annotation: Maus: A Survivor's Tale is a graphic novel recounting the terrifying ordeals of Polish Jews during the Holocaust.

About the Author: Art Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, but grew up in Queens, New York. His parents were Vladek Spiegelman and Anja Spiegelman who were Polish-Jewish refugees. Art's only brother, Tosha, died due to World War II when he was sent to live with an aunt who poisoned herself and everyone else living in her house, including Tosha. Art had a nervous breakdown in 1968 and shortly afterward his mother committed suicide.

Spiegelman was involved in the 1960s and 1970s underground comic movement in San Francisco. After moving back to New York in 1976 he met his future wife, Francoise Mouly, who was an artist. Mouly helped Spiegelman launch RAW, a magazine, which was a serialized Maus recounting Vladek and Anja's survival of the Holocaust. Art invented Garbage Candy when working for Topps Bubble gum. Garbage Candy was candy that looked like garbage. In 1992 he worked for The New Yorker for ten years and resigned after the September 11 Twin Tower terrorist attack. He then wrote In the Shadow of No Towers in which he relates his experiences of September 11. Art has had a very distinguished career. In 2005 he was named one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People" for Time Magazine.

Retrieved March 30, 2010 at: http://lambiek.net/artists/s/spiegelman.htm

Genre: Graphic Novel/ Autobiography

Curriculum Ties: Literature, European History, Jewish Culture

Book Talking Ideas: Experience Nazi terrorism first hand through a "mouse" or Maus. Maus: A Survivor's Tale is an awesome but terrifying journey into a Polish Jew's retelling of the Holocaust.

Reading Level and Interest Age: 14 and older

Challenge Issues: Maus is appropriate for high school age because understanding the adult relationships is suitable for more mature teens, not because of profanity, drugs or sex. Although there are references to drinking Vodka.

Reason for Inclusion: As a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book it is a winner on many different levels. It is very appropriate for the visual learner and for learning history, language, art and expression.