Satire Assignment

Maus II

I came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html

Maus II

I came across a New York Times article on the internet written about some different aspects of Maus II and why they were written and portrayed the way they were. This article was written by Lawrence L. Langer. In one section of the article, Langer explains why the approach Spiegelman took in writing this novel works. Langer believes that "the struggle to transform history and testimony into art is a central part of the drama of the text, and the reader is constantly sucked into the whirlpool of the conflict." Who can fail to sympathize with Vladek, an Auschwitz survivor reunited with his wife after the war, only to face her suicide nearly a quarter of a century later in Rego Park, Queens? But who can fail to blame him for being so stingy that he leaves the gas burner lit all day at his summer bungalow because the cost of the gas is included in the rental and he can light his cigarettes without wasting a match? Langer reminds us that "Artie despises his father's frugality, and with some justice, but Mr. Spiegelman constantly reminds us that Vladek's behavior in the present cannot be separated from his anguish in the past." The reader thus develops insights that Mr. Spiegelman's character, Artie, can't always achieve, and this is one of the many striking examples of the author's expertise on the writing of this narrative. Langer also talks about writing this novel in comic book form, he talks about Spiegelman’s decision to put all the people in the novel as different animals. One of Langer's points is that showing the people in the Holocaust as cats and mice and even pigs forces the reader to not get caught up in the grim, inhumane horrors of the holocaust. Langer also contributes his thoughts that the Jews were portrayed as mice because the Nazi called Jews vermins of society, so Langer thinks that might be Spiegelman’s reasoning for having Jews as mice. Langer then says that the Nazis in the novel had to be cats because everyone knows that cats and mice are not known to be friends.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/spiegelman-maus2.html