I believe that Art included the copy of the other graphic story, "Prisoner on Hell Planet," so that the audience could understand how the suicide took place and the events that happened after it. For example, in page 105, Art draws his mother in the bathtub dead with details. It gives the reader a picture of how the situation looked in real life. Another thing, I think he wanted to show the imagery through humans, and he wanted to show the details. The details make the story more gloomy and realistic in a way. In my opinion, he wanted to draw this section in particle with humans, not animals, to make the moment more realistic and intense.
'A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once.'— George R.R. Martin 'Impromptu thoughts are mental wildflowers.'—
Mme. du Deffand.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
On pp. 102-105, Art includes a copy of another graphic story, "Prisoner on Hell Planet," that he wrote about his mother's suicide. To what extent to you think the events of the Holocaust might have caused her suicide, and why do you think Art Speigelman chose to share "Prisoner on Hell Planet" in Maus.
There are many events during the Holocaust that could have lead to Anja's suicide. I believe that one of them could have been the fact that her five year old son, Richieu, was killed so that he would not have to be sent to a concentration camp. This was on page 111, where Tosha had to kill all three children and herself. The life changing event was not only depressing, but she had to keep moving forward and try and save her own life. Personally, I think she felt useless and she felt as though no one loved her. I believe this can be shown on page 105, in the graphic story, "Prisoner on Hell Planet." She asked Artie if she still loved her and he pretty much told her no. She was asking for reassurance over her son's love, and he rejected. Another thing, she had lost plenty of family members due to the Holocaust such as her father (page 117), her young son (page 111), and so many more members throughout the book. The death if her family might have made her feel alone and the way they died makes it worst.
I agree with you. I think that the stress of her son's death, and just the holocaust in General, made the largest impact on Anja, which led her to kill herself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ian. The things Anja saw in the holocaust were just devastating, and the stress of losing her first son added to the things that were overwhelming for her. I think it was only a matter of time until she killed herself.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Anja killed herself not because of the horrible, traumatic effects of the Holocaust and the fact that she felt like her family didn't care for her, but rather because she wanted to joint the rest of her family who had died in the Holocaust?
ReplyDeleteWhen you said you think Art drew the prisoner of hell to be able to draw them in human form. I never thought of that and it makes me think. I also grew when you say it make it feel more personal and realistic/dramatic. Because we (readers) are humans, and when we see a mouse die its sad but not as sad if we saw a human die.
ReplyDeleteAll of the possible reasons that you listed which may have led to the suicide of Speigelman's mother sound like valid reasons. I always wondered why this particular scene in the book was not drawn using animals and after reading your blog post I think I understand. Basically, I agree with what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough to lose one close family member in your life. But to lose everyone you care most about in the world in the same couple of years and in terrible circumstances, well she probably thought she had nothing and no one to live for anymore. I don't blame her at all.
ReplyDeleteI can't disagree with what Iris said- all of the events she brought up could've contributed to Anja's choice to commit suicide. Making the characters human in this part of the book really helped to add more gravity to the situation. But, your comment about it only being a matter of time before she killed herself is a bit of a stretch. Many people survived the concentration camps, and many of them didn't have families to come back to (unlike in her situation). She may have felt unloved and depressed, but that shouldn't merit her killing herself. Things definitely weren't going in her favor at the time, but there were other things she could've done to keep in good spirits (heh... spirits... and it's halloween at the time that I'm posting this).
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Iris. although I mostly think she killed herself because she was so depressed from her young 5 year old dying. Also, just being in the time period of the War was traumatic enough, and on top of that, being a prisoner in the camp was even tougher. Adding on to that, many other prisoners would kill themselves by throwing themselves against the electrified wired fences that surrounded the camps.
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