Maus: An Analysis
Maus; My Father Bleeds is a graphic history-based novel that spreads the horizon of imagining, the Holocaust with the intent to describe the event which is unimaginable due to the facts that how a real human being treated other real human beings. The book was first disregarded as children’s entertainment comic book with elements of humor suspense horror and action-adventure. Maus has described the real nature of enigma by casting Holocaust heroes as animals referring as cat, Mice, pigs, and dogs. In an interview, Spiegelman said that to use these nonentities was a way to allow people to read the history storybook with the new perspective when the first time the comic book appeared the words “NAZI” and “JEWS” were never brought to sight (Afridi). Therefore, the major purpose of this paper is to talk about how German hate Jews and how it related to the Arab and Muslims, whereas analyzing the text of the comic novel “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” as a major focus of this paper.
German hate the Jews and how it related to Arab and Muslims
The Muslims were in denial about the Holocaust and Nazi Armies barbarism and as the word spread about the denial of a Holocaust from Muslim majority countries, some Muslims and Jews struggle to keep alive their connections and history with one another. However, in Arab and Jews anti-Semitism still looming largely which has a negative impact on the positives that people of two different religions share. From the past seven decades, numerous Muslim and Arab academic researchers, professionals, and media perpetually labeled the Holocaust as a deceiving story of facts. The Jewish Holocaust—a historical lie,’ and the ‘greatest Zionist lie history had ever come through’ are some of the numerous expressions that take place in Arab dialogue of denial of a Holocaust (Afridi).
The Arab and Muslim roles in the Holocaust field have grown among Holocaust and religion studies. Muslim rulers’ historical entanglement broadens and particularized the carnage of Jews. In the period of the Holocaust 6 million Jews were killed. That time was complicated for Jews and Muslims in light of both Nazi and governments deciding according to their vision, however, till the time it is very less known where Muslims and Jews collaborated and suffered in anti-Semitic time. The words Holocaust and Islam are rarely used with each other, because of social and political images of the Holocaust and Muslims.
One of the reasons for these is the denial and revitalization of the Holocaust on different forums. During the 1930’s, Britain’s determination for the establishment of land for Jews has taken place the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was under immense pressure upon the Arab’s opposition face to Jewish migration towards Palestine. To spread propaganda in Arabs by Fascists and Nazi’s is considered to be an organized program to make it obvious so that they could ensure alliances and support with Arabs. Through the use of religion, they broadcast their agenda and influence Arabs to make them realize about the increasing number of Jews migrating to Palestine (Afridi).
Arabs were already resentful due to the alliances of Europeans with Jews and broadcasted the agenda that Jews will become more powerful with having Europeans at their side and Fascists, Nazi’s and Italian Vichy manipulation strategies worked in favor of Germans. Furthermore, during 1950s to 1980s, the tension increases between Jews and Arabs due to the migration of Jews from the Arab states to Europe, the United States of America and Israel worsened the situation and created violent memories for Arabs.
The story of this comic novel tells a story of a survivor, Spiegelman a young who mercilessly treated his wife and may marry her for financial benefits, which first seen as a stubborn, greedy, enraged old-aged man. He was not a saint and what happens to him after is more horrible in itself. And the specific nature of the book tells a background story in its own, even in the slightest details. Readers of Maus get to know the insights of the Ghetto black market, the structure of bogus-walled bunkers, and activities of the town square, where Jews were waiting for deportation (SPIEGELMAN).
Historically, the effect of a Holocaust in Arab lands was minimal but, well-known evidence, and it plays a vital role in the politics of Israel/Palestine. In the perspective of Muslims Holocaust was related to war and Jews portrayed it with huge exaggeration to gain sympathy for existence and to grab land for the expansion of Israel. History demonstrates Muslims and Jews were slowly separating from seventeenth-century due to European colonization in Arab and African countries. Jews remained the diminishing minority in the Arab and Islamic world. Travelers stuck to their camps during the journey have seen poverty and excessive disease in quarters of Jews in the region.
The Muslims were economically and technologically weakened due to colonial rules and not in a position to provide strength to the diminishing curve of Jews, so they looked to Europe to provide a livelihood. Spiegelman used animals to allow readers to surpass the misogyny of what humans are capable of doing and on the other hand, what humans are capable of surviving and at the same time forcing them to confront it more openly. His figure of Mice which represented Jewish’s is a stinging answer to Hitler’s statement that The Jews are without any doubt a race, but they cannot be considered as human. His Nazis which described as Cats remind us of German brutality was on its bottom with no more understanding than the subtle barbarism of Cats playing with their Mice targets. (Kluth).
A history of cooperation and tolerance between Jews and Muslims is suppressed hugely by the political use of religion and geopolitical influence to use them for their political gain. Religion and Politics are used to gain short-term benefits and denial of each other tragedies and colonialism of European and West countries are considered major reasons among other for the huge anti-Semitism growth in the Muslim world which further worsened the situation between the two traditions. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that the element of hate, certainly, has changed Germans, Jews, Muslims, and the Arab world and other countries and their people as well, whereas demoralizing their relations. Therefore, German hate towards Jews is also linked with Muslims and the Arab World as well.
Works Cited
Afridi, Mehnaz M. “The Role of Muslims and the Holocaust .” oxfordhandbooks (2014).
Kluth, Andreas. “Germans, Jews, Muslims and the paradox of tolerance.” 6 4 2018. global.handelsblatt.com. 13 10 2018.
SPIEGELMAN, ART. Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale. Auschwitz: PANTHEON BOOKS, 1980.
