What a Tiger

Maus Tails

For this blog we're going back in time, yes, to a review published in the year that Maus II was, 1991. This source is an interview with Art Spiegelman himself and review written by Meredith Berkman for Entertaiment Weekly. She explores some intriguing topics with Spiegelman that I find helpful for the essay writing process required of us later this month.

The first portion of the article Berkman questions Spiegelman about his daughter:
[What does cartoonist Art Spiegelman's 4 1/2-year-old daughter, Nadja, know about the Holocaust?
''Nothing!'' says Spiegelman, dismayed at the prospect.
''She's too young. Obviously at some point her innocence will be burst and she'll have to learn the rather cruel aspects of the world.''
And what will Spiegelman, 43, tell his little girl when that time comes?
''I'll say, 'Honey, let's read this book,''' he says. He refers to a slim volume resting on the drafting table in the cluttered studio of his downtown Manhattan loft. ''That's a good place to start.'']
I believe this would be a great resource for my essay, because I can examine not only Spiegelman's text by itself, I can take his words from an interview on the text to support certain theories behind his writing. Through this selection, I would like to go in the direction of how Spiegelman himself views his work. From these comments I would infer that he believes it is a good introduction to the holocaust, but not an indefinite explanation, and overall I think he tries to convey this idea throughout his novel, and once again here he is just identifying this through stating it would be a good place for his daughter to start when she begins to ask about the holocaust.

Furthermore, from this I see that he is also confirming that his book is not a simple child's comic book as many who have not read it may categorize it as. It is in fact an insightful look into his family's past in the holocaust. Therefore, when he states in shock that his daughter knows nothing of it, he means to convey that this is not simply child's play. It is a book with pictures yes, but no picturesque ideas or endings. Overall, this novel is not for children as most comics appear to be, and this is just another avenue I wish to explore in my essay, hopefully with sources from critics who believe it to be childish and not, to cover both sides of the spectrum.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,316498,00.html