On page 25, Vladek and Artie are discussing the contents of the book. Speigelman has just written about Vladek’s relationship with a woman (Lucia) before he married Anja. Vladek clearly states that he doesn’t wish for it to be included in the book as he thinks it has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
This is an example of mediation because Artie is choosing what should be included in the final story, as he is taking the entire story as dictated to him from his father Vladek and picking which bits to include.
The characters in Maus and the way there portrayed is a prime example of representation in Maus.
The jewish race are selectively chosen to be shown as mice and during WWII, the jews were portrayed as a parasite in nazi propaganda and they were needed to be exterminated. The binary opposite of the jews in this story is the Germans and as there the enemy to the jewish mice, the Germans are cats, who will toy with there prey before they inevitably kill them.
This is an ample metaphor for the relationship between the Jews and Nazi's.
In the second book, Spiegelman is clearly having doubts about the animal metaphors that form the backbone of the story.
Here, people are still characterized by animals based on race, but these characterizations are now clearly only masks that have been tied to their heads with a bit of string. Thus the idea of race is only an deception, Spiegelman suggests, and underneath the masks we are all basically the same. The fact that the animalistic face masks are mearly tied on is suggesting that everybody wears a mask but were simply all the same behind them, without all the social divisions we have today such as sexuality, race, religion, class, nationality and social standing.
Palestine
Joe Sacco doesn't understand the local customs or language and this helps the narrative because he can learn from talking to people in his journalistic profession and his reason for being there. Most of the Palestines find him to be a nice guy, give him a warm welcome but there are also some people who doubt he can help the situation.
The Israelis are the violent, aggressive, homicidal bad guys, causing all this conflict.
The jewish race are selectively chosen to be shown as mice and during WWII, the jews were portrayed as a parasite in nazi propaganda and they were needed to be exterminated. The binary opposite of the jews in this story is the Germans and as there the enemy to the jewish mice, the Germans are cats, who will toy with there prey before they inevitably kill them.
This is an ample metaphor for the relationship between the Jews and Nazi's.
In the second book, Spiegelman is clearly having doubts about the animal metaphors that form the backbone of the story.
Here, people are still characterized by animals based on race, but these characterizations are now clearly only masks that have been tied to their heads with a bit of string. Thus the idea of race is only an deception, Spiegelman suggests, and underneath the masks we are all basically the same. The fact that the animalistic face masks are mearly tied on is suggesting that everybody wears a mask but were simply all the same behind them, without all the social divisions we have today such as sexuality, race, religion, class, nationality and social standing.
Palestine
Joe Sacco doesn't understand the local customs or language and this helps the narrative because he can learn from talking to people in his journalistic profession and his reason for being there. Most of the Palestines find him to be a nice guy, give him a warm welcome but there are also some people who doubt he can help the situation.
The Israelis are the violent, aggressive, homicidal bad guys, causing all this conflict.
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