Maus

As someone who has done extensive research on World War II and the Holocaust, I found Maus to be a surprisingly accurate and engaging depiction of that part of history. While the graphic novel itself seemed to follow a very basic and formulaic structure to its visual layout, and the artwork was thickly rendered and relatively flat, I did still find enjoyment in it, and how powerful its story and message were. As I read deeper and deeper into the story, I kept wondering to myself why the story was told in an almost kid-friendly sense by making the characters animals. I understood the thought behind making the Jews mice and the Nazis cats as a means to depict the hideousness of racism at its worst form, but other than that, the fact that the characters were animals seemed almost arbitrary — That doesn't mean I didn't like that choice, I just mean to say I still don’t fully understand it. I will say, I found it’s kid-friendly aesthetic to be extremely fascinating when juxtaposed to the story and subject matter that it covered, and I appreciated the fact that it didn’t stray away from the reality of what happened. The Holocaust will forever be a horrible part of history, but it also contains many stories of redemption and human resilience, and I have great respect for both the survivors of those stories, as well as those who tell them.