"Maus" Summarized and Analyzed

By Students' Academy

“Maus” can not be confined to a particular genre because it is obviously a very great mixture of history, fiction, biography, memoir, and autobiography.

“Maus” is the first graphic novel that received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in the year 1992.

The narrative opens in the year 1978 in the Rego Park section of New York City. This is the place where the narrator interviews his father about his experiences in during the Holocaust. He gathers a lot of information for his project called “Maus.”

The basis of the novel is Spiegelman’s interview of his father. Although it is a comic book, “Maus” creates a deep impact and complexity which is obviously much greater than most of the comic novels ever written.

"Maus" Summarized and Analyzed
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Book One
Book Two
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Sep 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310961335

Students' Academy

Easy study guides for the students of English literature.

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Maus Summarized and Analyzed

Students' Academy

Copyright

Maus Summarized and Analyzed

Students' Academy

Copyright@2014 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

Maus by Art Spiegelman was first published in the year 1991. It is a graphic novel by this famous American cartoonist.

The book is very unique in its style and presentation. Spiegelman is the main character in the novel. He is also the narrator of the novel. Spiegelman interviews his father. He wants to know about his father’s experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor.

The author has used postmodern techniques in the novel. Different human races have been presented as different kinds of animals, such as Jews as mice, Germans as cats, and non-Jewish Poles as pigs, etc.

Maus can not be confined to a particular genre because it is obviously a very great mixture of history, fiction, biography, memoir, and autobiography.

Maus is the first graphic novel that received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in the year 1992.

The narrative opens in the year 1978 in the Rego Park section of New York City. This is the place where the narrator interviews his father about his experiences in during the Holocaust. He gathers a lot of information for his project called Maus.

The experiences presented in the novel begin in the years that lead up to the Second World War.

The story reveals the author has a kind of troubled relationship with his father. It transpires that his mother had committed suicide when the author was only twenty years old.

The author’s father was almost shattered after the death of his wife. He, in his state of grief, destroys his wife’s written accounts of Auschwitz.

The unique feature of this graphic novel is the skillful use of a minimalist drawing style