The memoir takes place over two timelines. The present,
which was during the 1980’s in the United Sates when Art Spiegelman is writing about his
fathers story and around 1935 a few years before the beginning of the war until
around 1944 in Poland as memories or flashbacks. The major historical event
that takes place in this memoir is World War II. They experience the rise of
the Nazi Party and the discrimination taken towards the Jews. At first the
lower class of Jews who didn’t have money to protect them were slowly taken.
This then increased if you were an older citizen, or was sick and didn’t have a
lot of prospect of surviving anyways. Homes were taken control of, food was
being rationed and every thing that was of great value was hidden so the Nazi’s
wouldn’t take it. Once the war finally started and they knew it was time to get
out of Poland they spent a lot of their time trying moving form place to place trying
to find places to hide and not knowing who they could trust along the way. It
was at this time that most Jews were being taken to the concentration camps in
Auschwitz where they would be starved and worked until they died or when it was
getting too crowded they would be sent to the gas chambers. The first part of
the memoir doesn’t reach the end of the war nor does it talk about situations
happening in other places in Europe. This being one of the major events in the world’s
history makes it interesting to experience the point of view of someone who
actually lived through that terrible event. The number of lives lost in the holocaust
and the genocide alone makes this story both moving and agonizing at the same
time.
Figure 2
Shmoop
Editorial Team. "Maus: A Survivor's Tale Book I, Chapter 6 Summary." Shmoop.com.
Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.shmoop.com/maus/book-1-chapter-6-summary.html>.
"Maus:
Historical Background." Maus: Historical Background. Web. 2 Apr.
2015. <http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/maus/background.htm>.
Figure 1: The Hooded Utilitarian. (2011). #5: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman. [virtual image]. Retrieved Apr 1, 2015 from http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2011/08/5-maus-a-survivors-tale-art-spiegelman/
Figure 2: USHMM. (n.d.). Death Marches. [virtual image]. Retrieved Apr 1, 2015 from http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007734
Figure 2: USHMM. (n.d.). Death Marches. [virtual image]. Retrieved Apr 1, 2015 from http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007734
This is a great reflection on the historical context of the memoir. I agree with you when you say that since this memoir is about such a major event in history, to read about it first hand makes it even more traumatizing but enticing at the same time.
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