Maus 2 Ideas

Maus is my favorite book that we have read so far this year. I am not really sure what I am going to write my essay on though. Maybe I will write an essay arguing that the Holocaust cannot be commemorated accurately. Justice would never be given to victims of the Holocaust since authors have not been through the tragic experience. That is why Artie only attempts to show his father’s experience in the concentration camps and not portray the general experience of others who went through the Holocaust. His father may have not been under as harsh of circumstances as other Jews, so people may not get the full gist of how horrific the concentration camps were. He wears a mask of a mouse since he feels guilty as if he is trying to façade the emotions of a Holocaust victim in writing his story. He fears stereotyping his father as a miserly Jew but being in a concentration camp can change a person and shape them in a new form for the rest of their lives.

For my essay, I am thing about using Postmodernism as a source. Since the book talks about how there is no universal truth that all believe, so everyone will have a different interpretation of the how awful the Holocaust really was. Artie even finds a fallacy in hearing that their was orchestras playing at the concentration camps when his father never knew of this. Every author will have a bias based on his/her own culture and religion that will affect how he/she depicts the Holocaust.

I would also like to somehow incorporate something about the setting changes from past to present and visa versa but I am sure what to do with that. Let me know if you have any ideas.