learntoquestion ltq discussions

Originally posted by greywatch on February 03, 2026 21:14

I think that Siegelman's use of the committed form is very effective in portraying the emotional and historical weight of the holocaust because through his animations he is able to show human experience in a slightly removed way, making the media more digestible. Through his comic, he uses different animals to represent different races and uses a lot of mass imagery. Without the clear difference in animals, the mask imagery would be hard to understand and visualize. I think that through the illustrations much of the story is told instead of relying slowly on the words which also captivate a larger number of readers and a larger audience. Aside from conveying, the emotional history is also told. Through this comic and allows readers to learn about historical events and the personal experiences of others. This format also bounces between the pass and the presence. The past is explaining Valdek life when he was younger and the present demonstrates a father son relationship that isn’t perfect. I think that humanity can take away from the seriousness and gravity of the story because it uses animals and comics which are usually supposed to be funny or carefree. However, in this depiction, there’s a lot of intentionality with the images/ imagery, and the story telling itself. With scenes like the hanging scene on page 84 and the bathtub scene depicting his mother‘s suicide, Spiegelman does a great job at not removing or censoring all of the tragedy that occurred. Using these graphic and suggestive images readers can understand the gravity of the situation, and the impact that seeing such tragedies have on people in real time. They were able to witness Spiegelman’s struggle to grasp his father‘s behavior, and to understand his father‘s trauma. I think that that is the most honest betrayal of his father's story and through his honesty he conveys the emotional significance to his father's story. I think that the comic was also a useful tool because the visuals allowed for the seamless transition between the past and the present without having to imagine too much. The reader could visualize and understand what was going on in Vladek’s mind as he was telling his son the story and relaying his life accounts

I’m not sure if this was a typo, but I think the “committed” form they are talking about is meant to be “comic” form - watch out for little mistakes! Other than that I really liked this person’s interpretation and it was very similar to mine. I also discussed how using the comic form shows the human experience but makes it more digestible. I also liked their idea that the story isn’t just told through words but through the scenes and imagery. I wish this person would have delved deeper into why they think Spiegelman used animals instead of human illustrations (beyond it being for “digestibility”). Again, with other points I wish they would have further discussed why they think that and what it says about the novel and its effectiveness. Also, I didn’t really agree with their last point about the transitions between past and present being easy to follow, I thought the opposite! I thought that the purpose of the time frames being so close together was to show how the trauma is constant or that time is relative in a way. Overall, I thought this response had some great points, but it could have expanded more on these ideas and proofread a bit more.

Originally posted by Orso on January 30, 2026 14:30

No form of text can truly be effective in conveying the emotional and historical weight of the Holocaust. Videos from the scene get close by graphically and accurately showcasing some of the horror, but they can’t convey the emotions or thoughts of either the victims or the perpetrators as a first hand written account might. In general, the task of studying the Holocaust should come through multiple types of sources and be extensive. Still, the gravity may never be conceivable to those who simply hear or watch from a time distant in the future. That being said, the comic form is a valid and effective method of telling Vladek’s story. Art Spiegelman doesn’t intend for the reader to fully comprehend the Holocaust, but he gives us an individual story to remember, drawing clear connections between the traumatic past and more contemporary issues. As Chute claims, the spacing between images can act as a deliberate way to show the constant interaction between past and present, where everything hits at once and much of it can become confusing. The gutter space helps draw a distinct separation between past and present while acknowledging the overlap between the two.

Maus is an important and legitimate resource for Holocaust remembrance since it conveys important information, humanizes Jewish victims (ironically) through Vladek’s story, and does so in an accessible manner. Massive historical studies might be more comprehensive, but are usually only read by certain individuals who are already likely to be familiar with some of the historical weight of the situation. The comic form is accessible to young students, avid readers, and more casual adult audiences, filling in gaps Holocaust education. While seriousness is necessary in addressing the subject, a graphic novel does not necessarily compromise the sincerity of the message, but highlights other aspects, like the impact of the past on the present and how the Holocaust impacted Vladek’s family life. The scene on page 50 where Vladek returns to the body he shot dead is very hard to communicate in words. We see the emotion he feels and the authentic confusion when killing someone for the first time. The history of the individuals involved in the Holocaust could not have been consumed by such a large audience in another form. The graphic novel is appropriate for what Maus is, not the perfected Holocaust story meant to relay the entire history, but the story of a single Holocaust survivor and his family.

The most compelling idea of my peer's post is that graphic novels reach a broader audience. I completely agree with this idea because many people may not want to read about the Holocaust in the first place as many books or novels about it often follow the same system of accounts or stories of people. While Maus does this, it adds a different dynamic to the novel by incorporating pictures into the novel to help further convey the message. I think many more people would be drawn to Maus rather than the traditional novel because it is taking a more artistic approach to a very heavy and complex event. I find this interesting because before Maus I never would've thought that there would be a graphic novel created about the Holocaust as graphic novels often have a more lighthearted connotation. My own personal views of Maus and the seriousness of the Holocaust are very similar, I think Maus definitely emphasized the Holocaust rather than undermining it because of the comic approach to it. I don't believe that someone who didn't fully understand the Holocaust would take on the challenge of creating a graphic novel about it, I feel that Maus was the only correct way to write a graphic novel about the events of the Holocaust and the stories of the survivors.

Originally posted by Orso on January 30, 2026 14:30

No form of text can truly be effective in conveying the emotional and historical weight of the Holocaust. Videos from the scene get close by graphically and accurately showcasing some of the horror, but they can’t convey the emotions or thoughts of either the victims or the perpetrators as a first hand written account might. In general, the task of studying the Holocaust should come through multiple types of sources and be extensive. Still, the gravity may never be conceivable to those who simply hear or watch from a time distant in the future. That being said, the comic form is a valid and effective method of telling Vladek’s story. Art Spiegelman doesn’t intend for the reader to fully comprehend the Holocaust, but he gives us an individual story to remember, drawing clear connections between the traumatic past and more contemporary issues. As Chute claims, the spacing between images can act as a deliberate way to show the constant interaction between past and present, where everything hits at once and much of it can become confusing. The gutter space helps draw a distinct separation between past and present while acknowledging the overlap between the two.

Maus is an important and legitimate resource for Holocaust remembrance since it conveys important information, humanizes Jewish victims (ironically) through Vladek’s story, and does so in an accessible manner. Massive historical studies might be more comprehensive, but are usually only read by certain individuals who are already likely to be familiar with some of the historical weight of the situation. The comic form is accessible to young students, avid readers, and more casual adult audiences, filling in gaps Holocaust education. While seriousness is necessary in addressing the subject, a graphic novel does not necessarily compromise the sincerity of the message, but highlights other aspects, like the impact of the past on the present and how the Holocaust impacted Vladek’s family life. The scene on page 50 where Vladek returns to the body he shot dead is very hard to communicate in words. We see the emotion he feels and the authentic confusion when killing someone for the first time. The history of the individuals involved in the Holocaust could not have been consumed by such a large audience in another form. The graphic novel is appropriate for what Maus is, not the perfected Holocaust story meant to relay the entire history, but the story of a single Holocaust survivor and his family.

I agree that mouse aims to humanize the victims and ultimately does a really great job at that because it allows for the stories to be told in a digestible way through the comic book style, but it also does not take away from the historical weight of the situation as this peer explained. I think that the most compelling idea for me was how comic books bridge gaps, and understanding. This book is accessible to students who have limited literacy working its way up to people who read very well. With the imagery and the visuals, the necessary information is given to this graphic novel to explain and illustrate what happened during the holocaust. I also thought that talking about the space between each image as a distinction between the past and present was a very keen observation because it does draw a physical separation as well as a periodic one. I think that this response is very similar to my initial idea of the importance and the usefulness of using a graphical novel to share such a story. The Holocaust affected real families and people who were “normal". " I think that the emotion, the family struggles, and the internal turmoil is excellently displayed in the graphic novel and many of the scenes, specifically the one that this writer mentioned on page 50, would be much more difficult to describe in words and visualize as the author intended and as Vladek saw it.

I think that the comic is very effective in conveying the emotional side and the historical side of the Holocaust, and it uses its medium in a way that utilizes pictures and symbols that an ordinary novel can’t. For example, the colors of a novel are normally monotonous on purpose, because it’s just words on a page that the reader is solely supposed to focus on. However, the choice of going with a black and white color palette gives the book an older, yet serious tone that is normally required for books, but is a choice for novels. Even though it’s just a “comic book” it still aids in conveying the severity of the Holocaust in a way that’s new for readers. Spiegelman’s use of symbolism of the different nations as well is something that is unique for his use of the comic form that can’t be said for classic novels either. His depiction of the Nazis as cats, Jews at mice, and Poles as pigs ultimately demonstrates their relationship in the novel and in real life as well. In addition, the flash backs to the past during the Nazi regime are much more flawless compared to other texts that utilize several timelines like in modernist texts. However, because of the narration and the visual depiction of the story, it allows for an easier understanding of what timestamp is what. While some may argue that comic books aren’t an appropriate way of telling stories such as the Holocaust, the statement itself is an underminement of the Holocaust itself by limiting it to a specific medium. By allowing for numerous genres to be adopted, we allow for the lessons and the history to grow wider into more audiences, which should be the ultimate goal of having novels such as these; in order to teach and remind new generations of these catastrophes as warnings before it happens to them. However, while seriousness is needed, that can ultimately be said about any type of media, including cartoons, comic books, novels, etc. Those who argue that comic books are for children and argue that the comic format doesn’t have the seriousness to tell the Holocaust has generalized and not explored the potential that this medium has to bring in order to tell these significant stories.