On Art Spiegelman

I've taken time during the last week or so to read Mau I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman.  It's a graphic novel.  No, not like Zane or Blaze: it reads like a comic, but it's a novel; it's not about Superman or Flash.

Quick synopsis:

Art learns from his father, Vladek, the experiences he had during the Nazi invasion of Europe.  Being a Jew, you can imagine Vladek endured quite some time in a concentration camp.  "Sigh."  All throughout my read, it's just "Sigh", and I only follow Art in his own footsteps.  I feel where he's coming from.

First, Vladek.  There are so many times when he or people he knows are cheated.  They try to bribe a Nazi to escape, he shoots them.  Fellows Jews throw them out of their houses.  Vladek really is a mouse.  frantically looking for a safe place.  I hate those people who sold out their friends, but I wonder if I rationalize things the way they do, but just about different things.  (e.g. "How many slaves work for me?"  "Psh, don't worry Yev.  They're just slaves.  Better slave then starve").  A system is corrupt if it pits the poor against the poor.  Sigh.

Second, Art.  After all he's heard from his dad, it seems Art suffers from serious guilt issues.  He responds by escaping all commitments to his dad, but flocking to him to hear the very story he's laying out for us.  I can relate.  My mom gets clingy like Vladek.  She also is a single parent (Vladek is in some ways).  What is it that makes us do that?  Individuality (OO LALA) or Individualism (:/).  Sigh.

Finally, a random character has his number (the one burned into his arm) written down, which means he'll probably end up in the gas chamber.  He starts wailing and crying that night, thinking he will die,  The next day they took him.  I imagined myself in that spot, imagining that I'd either grieve myself to numbness, or hate the Germans with my whole heart.  I pictured returning their slurs to them, "Filthy Nazi, subhuman!"  Wouldn't that put me in their shoes?  Sigh.