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Week 7- Maus

"The Jews are undoubtably a race, but they are not human." These chilling, horrifying words quoted by Adolph Hitler start off our retelling of WW2, perfectly introducing us into the world of death and misguided slaughter depicted further in. Many could initially confuse "Maus" with a children's story variant of the Jewish genocide during the Second World War; but the themes explored are just as adult as any other version. Based off of the real life experiences of one, Vladek Spiegelman and his son, the story shows life mostly outside of the infamous concentration camps but instead the hardships of a Nazi-controlled city. We see a relatively peaceful existence be taken over completely by the oppressive Nazi regime, as trigger happy brutes are given any excuse they want to imprison, enslave, torture and kill anyone with a jewish star. While perhaps not as graphically depicted in its violence as other comics, this one explores the psychological torment along with the oppressive and depressing state of affairs present in the city on a daily basis. One of the most haunting events for me was when a Nazi patrolman stops one our main character demanding his identification papers, "Or else I'll shoot yer brains out!" When the character returns to his friends later on, they discuss how the man is known as "The Shooter," who finds an excuse to kill "a jew a day, just for fun." This and other depictions of cruel injustice towards the jews is sickening, and cements how even cartoonist interpretations of events can carry just as much impact as any other interpretation.

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