Try to finish Maus for Tuesday, though if you don’t, we’ll still discuss it on Thursday, so no worries. The questions below cover the rest of the book, read as much as you can—it goes pretty quickly. Also, don’t forget about the Paper #3 assignment in the post below, due April 6th!
Answer two of the following:
Q1: Chapters Three and Four use photographs throughout, not just drawings of
photographs, but also real ones, such as the one of Vladek at the end. How do
these photographs add a unique layer to the story? What do they show us that no
amount of fictional storytelling could manage?
Q2: In Chapter Three, Vladek hassles Artie to take home a used box of cereal.
When Artie refuses, Vladek responds, "I cannot forget it...ever since
Hitler I don't like to throw out even a crumb." How much should we blame
the Holocaust for the 'present' Vladek, who is often insulting, intolerant, and even racist (the scene with the hitchhiker)? Does Artie believe the Holocaust made him this way? Should we?
Q3: When Maus was first published, the New York Times put
it on their bestseller list for fiction, which Spiegelman strongly objected to.
He claimed it was "non-fiction," even though the editor told him,
"when you show me a six-foot mouse, then I'll call it non-fiction."
Based on your reading of the book, what category do you feel best represents
this book: fiction? Non-fiction? History? Something else? Or should it just be
called a "comic book"?
Q4: What do you make of the interesting passage in Chapter Three, where a
soldier shoots a prisoner for walking too slowly, and Vladek says, "And
now I thought: how amazing it is that a human being reacts the same like his
neighbor's dog." This not only destroys the animal metaphor (since the
American soldiers are portrayed as dogs), but it also makes an interesting connection
between men and animals. What might this say about the true danger of the
Holocaust and of Nazi ideology? What makes people become dogs (or other
animals)? What keeps us 'human'?
No comments:
Post a Comment