Maus' Analysis Essay

Topics:	Critical ThinkingMausNovel
Words:	774
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One in six people murdered in the holocaust were murdered in Auschwitz this is where the main character Vladek from Maus spent a year of his life. Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman is a history novel based on real events and a real story. The graphic novel is about the author Art Spiegelman's father's journey through the holocaust as a Jewish man in WW2. The article is called “Gunman in Egypt Attack Bus Carrying Christians Killing at Least 8 Wounding 13” This article talks about how Christians were targeted by a terror group and massacred on their way back from a holy site. This article is similar to the Maus books because it illustrates the massacre of people for no other reason the religion. Many things are similar between this article by the Washington Post and the books written by Art Spiegelman. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go in-depth into all of the connections but the two most important ones are targeted killings as a retaliatory measure and using terror to push an agenda.

Both the book Maus and the article talk about targeted killings of certain groups of people as a retaliatory measure. In the article, the terror group The Egypt Islamic State Affiliate (EISA) is retaliating against the government's jailing of EISA supporters. The EISA’s response was to fire at a bus of Christians” Masked men got out of them(referring to the vehicles they were in), took the mobile phones of the passengers and then shot all the men dead” (Washington Post, Gunman in Egypt Attack Bus Carrying Christians Killing at Least 8 Wounding 13 ) In Maus II the guards would occasionally throw the Auschwitz prisoners’ hats over the prison barbed wire fence. When the Jewish prisoner would go to get their hat, they would be shot for trying to escape. The guards were doing this in retaliation to the speculation that it was the Jews's fault for starting the world war. As Hitler said, if the Jews caused a world war they would be destroyed. Even though the world war was not remotely the Jews's fault they were still blamed by some people. Both the article and text have killings for retaliatory measures.

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In Maus I and Maus II, the Germans always used terror to push their agenda and to target groups that did not align with their beliefs or agenda. The EISA also has used terror to try to get people to convert to their religion and also to try and create an Islamic State separate from other countries and to use Sharia Law. In Maus, the Germans also used terror to push their agenda but for a different goal, that goal was to eradicate all Jewish people. There were several instances where the main character Vladek was exposed to terror so that he would cooperate with the Germans for example in Maus, Vladek says” They hanged there one full week” (Maus I page 83) In this instance Vladek was talking about how some of the people who had been trading food had been hung as to intimidate people and to target the minorities and to push their agenda. In the news article, the terror group the EISA also has used terror on groups that did not align with their beliefs like Coptic Christians. They have been targeted many times much like the Jews in Maus. In the article it says “ Egypt's Islamic State Affiliate which has vowed to target… Coptic Christians, claimed responsibility for the attack” (Washington Post, Gunman in Egypt Attack Bus Carrying Christians Killing at Least 8 Wounding 13 )This attack happened to people that did not like their agenda and did not have the same religion as them. This proves there are several things in common with both texts.

In conclusion, the article and book are very much alike. In both the book and article, there are similarities there are targeted killings as a retaliatory measure and using terror to push one's agenda. In the Maus books, it showed how the Jews were always in fear of being killed by the Gestapo or Wehrmacht. This was happening back in World War II and it is also happening today. A quote many have heard is 'Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It.' (George Santayana) this quote is true as it has been proven over and over again. We pride ourselves in being very different from the world in which we used to live, but some of the same things are happening all around the globe, we can't just let this happen we need to do something to stop it from happening again.

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