Sunday, August 24, 2014

Question Commander - Maus - Daphne M

Maus

Rotation #1

Pages 5- 71

#1: Do you think it would be easier if the author used humans instead of mice as the characters?

In the begging, I got a little confused with the characters because they were all mice. Sometimes I mixed them up or did not know who they were. After getting to page 70 thought, I realized there could be a message behind this meaning. I saw that the author made the Jews mice and the Nazis cats. Therefore, showing us a simple metaphor. That if the Jews try doing something towards the Nazis, they can simply get killed, the same goes to mouse and cats. And that cats are more powerful then mice. It is very useful to visualize who is who I would say, plus it is a very clever metaphor.


via google images: image


#2: Do you think Artie and Vladek will grow a stronger bond?

While reading these pages, I couldn't notice that Artie really only wants to know his dads story to write about it. But the way he acts, makes me feel hes not even realing caring he just hopes it is interesting. Additionally, when his dad gets off tracks like talking about something else, Artie just keeps telling him to go back to his story. Furthermore, they have different opinions which may cause them to fight a little sometimes. Like on pages 68 and 69 when Vladek throws Artie's jacket in the garbage. Vladek thought it was "old and shabby" coat, but Artie's liked it and said it was his favorite, after that they kind of had a small argument and Artie's threw out that his dad couldn't make him use the new jacket and all. But, maybe they will start understanding each other further through the book since they always talk.


via google images: image


#3: How come the story is written as a "comic book" style and not a regular written book? 

Honestly, I did not think of this question as I began to read this book. When I got to the part where Vladek was in the prisoners camp, the question came to me. Why? My point of view is, the author thought it would be easier to understand as in characters, settings, etc. I think it would be easier to understand who the mice and the cats are as a comic then in writing. Also, it makes it funner to read and look at the images and see how the camp is, or how the house is, etc. Adding on to that, it would be harder with all the place names (as in Czestochowa, Zewiercie, Krakow, etc.) , characters (Vladek, Artie, Anja, Mala, etc.)  and the settings (the camp, the streets, etc.). In conclusion, making this a comic style book was easier to understand.


via tumblr. image






5 comments:

  1. Your post was great ,but the part of the jews and the nazis I don't think the author did that to be a metaphor and more for the cause of not seeing real images of people. I think he didn't want to put us as a example because makes us think more about if it was us in the place of the prisoners. I don't think they are going to great a stronger bond because their bond is really strong already because he admires his father because he survived the war and he protected his family during the war. I agree with you in the last part of the book because comics help us read a strong book like this one because you didn't see all of the dark parts like people starving.

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  2. In the first question I pretty much disagree with you. I thought it was a great idea of the author using animals that naturally hate each other in a book that is about war. If the author of the book used humans it will be less creative and would be something too common.
    I do think that Artie and Valdek will get along because they are getting to know each other better and better while Artie tells Valdek his story about WW2. But they might get into some arguments when the story is going on ahead.
    I think that the author of this book chose to write the book as an comic novel because it takes peoples thinking to an whole different realm. In comic novels you can clearly know what is happening and you don't need to think deep of the setting. In the normal novels it is only words.

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  3. I think it would be more confusing if the author used humans instead of animals. By using animals, we can clearly see if the character is a Jew or a Nazi. If the characters were all humans, it would be very confusing. The author was really clever to use animals. I think he chose to use mice to represent the Jews because mice are innocent animals that don't do anything to harm us. But, they get killed anyways. The Jews were also innocent and didn't do anything to deserve to be killed. But, they were killed. The author chose cats to represent the Nazis because cats kill mice.
    I also agree with you on your second question. I also realized that they didn't really get along together. Vladek shouldn't have thrown Artie's jacket without his permission because the jacket wasn't even his. He should have at least asked before throwing it away. In my opinion, I think their relationship will grow stronger as they spend more time together. When you spend more time with someone, you get closer to them.

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  4. For your first question I agree. I also think the fact that the characters are mice and cats instead of humans is showing a metaphor. I think since the book is a comic, the author wanted to take advantage of it and make the book different. It also could make more people read it because people look at the book might wonder why there are mice on the cover instead of humans. I also think making the characters animals makes the book easier to understand sometimes. For your second question I also think that the story telling will grow a stronger bond between them. Especially since they don't get along very well at all now. I also hope they will grow a stronger bond because they are father and son, Artie is already a grown man, and grew up not getting along with his dad. Especially now that the mom is dead, Vladek is all Artie has. For the third question I agree that the book being a comic is for a better understanding because in most books there aren't any pictures. You can make you own image in your head, but not that the image in your head is necessarily wrong, it's just more likely to not be what the author was visualizing. There could just be one little difference between your image and the author's. Though that little thing could change the way you think about something or help you understand the book better.

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  5. Hey Daphne,
    For your fist question, I think that it would be harder to notice the characters if they were human. If they were human, it would be easy to ID the Nazis, but it would be hard to distinguish the poles, jews, etc. from each other. Second question, yes, I do think that Vladek and Artie will develop a stronger bond, because he's Artie's dad is telling stories of his life, so they will probably start to bond over it. Last question, the book is in comic- book style so you can understand the characters more by facial expressions and physical movement shown through the pictures. and why make the characters animals if it were not a graphic novel?

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