(7) MAUS 쥐

            I remember reading “Maus” when I was a little kid. The story was too difficult for me to understand back then, and the only part I remembered was that the cats were very intimidating, but I found mice even scarier. I also remember myself expecting a story like “Tom and Jerry” at the introduction of this book. I was too young to realize that this book is about World War2 and Nazi. All I was looking for was battle between cat and mouse.

Looking back at this work as a college student, I was very surprised at the technique that this comic book used to bring out a strong realism in the work. “Maus” is composed of two major story patterns: interview and remembrance. This book is based on the actual experiences of the author’s father, and the author successfully brings out his father’s past experience and his own present experience of interviewing his father. This format emphasizes the fact that this experience at Auschwitz is not just a past event, but also a memory that continues to the present day. Even the characters in the book are represented as cat and mouse characters, it is impossible to consider the story of this book as not realistic.

The art style of Maus is very rough and sketchy with thick lines that it almost looks like a woodcut print. This art style might looks simple, but it is balanced out with its difficult contents. With a simple caricature of Nazi cat and prisoner mouse, the book “Maus” easily drags its audience into the serious story of the past. The most important contents of this book are in reading, and the simple artwork of this book encourages readers to read and helps them understand the message. This book represents Nazi as cats, Jews as mice, Americans as dogs, and Polish people as pigs. Just by looking at these characters, the audience can easily assume their relationship.

Maus is a very powerful piece of work. It successfully brings its readers to the past that is dark and cruel. This work emphasizes the cruelty of war and racism, while reminds the readers to appreciate the peace that they are living in.