Holocaust Memories in Comics

While discussing Maus I in class, I picked up on a few topics or themes that I had not when I read it myself. There is a scene in which portrayals of killings and abuse were focused on with children. I’m not sure why I didn’t really think anything of this scene the first time around, but while discussing it in class I realized how horrifying it was. I think I may have over passed this section because this kind of portrayals are common in film and literature, especially today so it was something that almost did not phase me as much as it should have. Thinking back to the time of the Holocaust, I can’t imagine being a parent, or even an adult, at that time and seeing this type of thing happening all over to innocent children.

We talked about Spiegelman’s other piece “Prisoner on the Hell Planet,” which is featured in Maus I. Before our discussion I didn’t relate the two pieces, but it is interesting to see the parallels in the ending of both of them. They both end similarly, accusing a parent of being a “murderer.” Because there was so much tension during the Holocaust, people didn’t know who they could trust. Not only was trust an issue, but this affected having normal relationships with other people. We can see this between Vladek and his new wife, Mala. It is also displayed between Art and Vladek.

This goes to show that the Holocaust changed people, and because not all people reacted like Vladek, we can see that that Holocaust changed people in many different ways.