World Literature - Research Paper Example

World Literature Topic: Research Paper Introduction; Maus is an exquisite piece of classic novel depicting the history with animated animal representation. It can be regarded a non tradition method utilized by the author to teach history of the period around world wars. The book consists of two volumes written by Art Spiegelman. This piece of art is recognized as a remarkable piece of art that have won Pulitzer Prize. Throughout the reading various aspects of fundamental differences of Judaism and Christianity are illustrated with the help of metaphors and metonyms.(Wadley) Maus has the unique attribute of history illustrated in the shape of a comic book where animals represent individuals with different nationalities and religion. Use of symbolism, imagery and allegory; The book is a reflective biography of a holocaust survivor written in the nontraditional comic style to attract the attention of reader and give the illustration of event in a fictitious manner. A number of aids are utilized in the book to add in the depth such as animal allegory to represent races and nationalities by picking the animals by matching their characteristics with that of animals (like Germans are cat predators who prey on Jews mice). The other animals used in the comic were dogs, frogs, moths and pigs. In the course of his writing Art also used diagrammes to illustrate the description in a brief manner. Writing Style and Tone; The writing style used in the composition is that of comic, that is scene setting through picture with a brief dialogue. The style is often referred controversial because of speech patterns, although the scene setting was quiet impressive via picture, allegory and symbolism was further assisted by use of bold , italicized and enlarged font wherever necessary. The tone of the book varies according to the situations, the frustration of recalling a painful moment is quiet evident in a number of places. Even the tense relationship between father and the son is visible in the tone of the book that varies from reflective to melancholic and anguish. Overview of Maus Book I; The book I of Maus begins with the son of Vladek who explores his hollucast recollections to record his memories for writing a book on his father’s life. Vladek begins his story from the age of a young man who finds his love and marry her. The period depicted is that of before the World War II. Together the couple enjoys a well established life with a textile factory owned by them but soon after the birth of their first son Richie, Anuja the wife of Vladek suffers from post- partum depression, leading her to sanitarium in Czechoslovakia for medical assistance. The sudden onset of Nazism and anti-Semitism added to the chaos of situation. When the couple returned to Poland after the treatment the business behind was sabotaged and the terror of war in the air was at bursting. Hitherto, when war took its pace Vladek was taken to the board as a soldier when he was imprisoned by Germans, by the time he returned from his imprisonment to Poland, he found it occupied by Germans who were practicing their anti-Semitic policies at that place resulting in abstaining of fair business. This was still not the end Jews were being moved into camp and so were Vladek, Anuja and her family who were departed to Dienst Stadium via Ghetto, where they found the family of Vladek. In this hasty situation the couple tried to secure their son by sending him to reasonably safer town to a relative but that place was also attacked by the Germans later. The fear of deportation to camp jolted the Jews invoking terrifying events like Anuja’s sister successful attempt of killing her whole family and herself from poisoning and Anuja and Vladek thrashing into farm fields outside Sosnowiec. Nevertheless, nothing helped even Anuja and Vladek bribed the smugglers for a safe exit to Hungary but they were rather handed over to Germans. The imprisonment of the couple was in separate camps with dreadful situations; Vladek even in such a worst scenario survived and established his earning as a tin worker and shoe maker that somehow aided him to manage the transfer of Anuja at his camp. After the German’s decision to disburse camps Vladek finally reached at Dachau (the worst of all the camps experienced before) where he caught Typhus fever. Later, Vladek along with other prisoners were taken to Swiss border by Germans with a plan of execution but the doubt of the arrival of American soldiers saved them all. The opportunity to escape was availed by Vladek and his friend who hid in a farm house until they found American soldiers. Vladek returned to Sosnowiec and joined up with Anuja, the couple than migrated to Sweden and then United States were they again had a child they named Art. The personal reflection of the son are also evident frequently in the book indicating the rough relationship of his father with him than is further intensified because of his mother suicide and his father’s second marriage. At one point the author shows his anger on his father when he comes to learn that he have destroyed all his mother’s diaries. (Shmoop) Overview of Maus Book II; The success of Maus I encouraged Art for the production of another volume. In the second volume Art pondered over his conflicted feeling regarding holocaust and his father’s character whil having a discussion with therapist. Later, Art informs about disruption of his vacations by a call of his father who inform that his second wife mala have escaped with a considerable share of fortune. However, when situation become stable Vladek and mala reunited in Florida where Vladek health worsens and Art visited to Newyork to accompany his father at hospital. The end of the book is an emotional panorama where in after a pause of good health Vladek succumbs to heart failure while telling Art about his reunion with Anuja in Sosnowiec.(Shmoop) Descriptive Analysis; The detailed study of the book Maus bring to the core certain questions that needs rational evaluation to arrive at accurate question. The literary style adopted in the composition is quiet a unique in its nature based on the fact that it presents history in a comic format using animals to depict human apart from the harsh realities of the time of holocaust. Detail of the most tragic part of history in the shape of allegory emphasizing on realities on the differences of jaws and Christians’ apart from understanding of Dreyfus affair. The setting of the plot is the most impressively drawn a picture by Art that for a moment take the reader into the period with almost no effort. Research Aims and Objectives; While, a number of facts and figures are illustrated in the book that have cautiously presented the history elaborating minute details but pertaining to the fact that the more complex the subject the more intense is the critical evaluation to establish transparency. Perhaps the most obvious of the research objective is to investigate the character and personality of art who is the writer of the book. No doubt the second generation of survivors of holocaust has enormous effect of the historical tragic events in their life but the purpose of this paper is to further explore the personality traits of the writer to examine any exaggeration. The reason of this investigation is the fact that Art constantly poses reflective recognition while portraying the experiences of his parent. Character description of Art; Art is the second child of the holocaust survivors Vladek and Anuja. The drastic impact of holocaust in evident in his whole life that does not allow him to live the life of a normal human being. He constant fantasies of holocaust have brought a number of instable attributes in his personality such as the guilt of growing in the shelter and comfort of his parent companionship unlike his elder brother. This book can be regarded as a method devised by Art to retaliate his feelings. The regular blaming and tense relationship with his father is the other evidence of his personality imbalance. We will investigate his relationship with the other characters of the book “Maus” to dig into the reality. Relationship of Art with the main characters of his book; Vladek Spiegelman; The main character of the novel Vladek Spiedelman is the father of the author, who is the survivor of the holocaust. Throughout the novel their relationship remains tensed without a reason and Art seems caught in inferiority complex because of the feeling that his father can do thing which he himself can never achieve. The sufferings of holocaust transformed his father into a hyper- perfectionist, which awoke the urge in him to teach the real worth of life to his family. Anuja (Zylberberg); the first wife of Spiegelman, Anuja was also an holocaust survivor but later committed suicide in the teenage of his son Art. Although the book was written in the mode of reflective memories of Art’s father but the very incident throughout haunted the relationship of father and son. The postpartum depression episode after the birth followed by the shock of her first son left her on the verge of emotional drainage. Vladek in his reflective memories often spotlight the similarities in the nature of Anuja and Art that intensified the hollow of her absence. Richieu Spiegelman; Riechieu was the elder brother of Art whom he never met but always showed soft corner for him in his gestures. The most evident of which is the dedication of volume II of the book to Richieu. Mala Spiegelman; mala is the second wife of Vladek Spiegelman and an holocaust survivor as well. Although she often helped Art in dealing with his frustration by showing different ways of looking at things but Art never seemed to have a comfortable relationship with her. Perhaps, he was unable to accept that the place of her mother has been occupied by an intruder. Discussion on Findings; The detail analysis of the relationship of main characters of the novel were intended to highlight the ambiguous personality of Art who never seemed to have a fair relationship even with his mother to whom he loved the most. In “Prisoner on Hell Planet,” he even accuses her of murder, as if to suggest that there is something suffocating in her love. Hence, the question poised for consideration is the fact that was Art able to fairly ponder over memories passed from one generation to another without any biasness. Here it must be mentioned that in the second part Art himself realized the disturbance of his personality and his visit to the therapist can be viewed as his admittance of the truth. Hence, at one point Art himself realized the catastrophe holocaust have caused on the lives of the survivors and their children. Thus, the question that is to ponder is that with such a mental state was Art able to understand and comprehend the behavior of his father or we are being shown his perception of the picture. Although Art repeatedly mentioned in the novel that he was different from his father but his interests (artistry), technical skills and resourcefulness were the evident similarities he inherited from his father. However, his repetitive argument of being different from his father could be projected as the impact of the haunt of holocaust that refrain Art from assuming himself at the place of his father. In addition, Art himself mentioned that his work intends to secure the future generation from the impacts of holocaust. The details are mentioned to canvas the various intermingled realities to thread the conclusion. An thorough over view of the content make certain information counter against the notions Art declared in the description of his work by stating, ““I’m literally giving a form to my father’s words and narrative,” However, the regular interruption of Art’s feelings in different scenes poses a view contrary to the statement such as the point when he shows his anger on his father after learning that all his mother’s diaries have been destroyed by him. Such kind of reactions certainly arouses the emotions of reader in the direction the author leads them to. The other most important concern to be highlighted is the mode of the book. No doubt the subject matter and theme of the book comprises of the horrifying historical reality but the transformation into comic and adding humor to the content is rather an unethical practise that surely subjects the holocaust victims to the prurient gaze again. Perhaps, the simple collection of photograph, films and other aid could be used to respectfully project the topic with perhaps higher intensity. Conclusion; Precisely, it is evident from the given illustrations that Maus is an impressive work of Art’s Spiegelmen as a whole. Although the argument of presentation of the serious incidents of holocaust in a comic book is a question mark against the ethical concerns of the holocaust survivors but the use of very literary skill have attracted the readers of all age and perhaps made it easier for new generation to understand the situation faced by our ancestors. In the disguise of a comic strip the book teaches magnificent use and understanding of allegory, symbolism and imagery. On the other hand, the book once filtered by the personal feelings of author present an overview of the social and economical problems faced by the people of the time. Hence, all the suffering can spotlight the importance of life for the future generation who in the light of the realities or the actual suffering can positively draw a conclusion of the event by constructively focusing over the improvements they can bring in the society. References; Shmoop. Literature. nd. 9 Dec 2011 . Wadley, Doug. Mandel Fellowship Lesson Plans. nd. 8 Dec 2011 . Read More