Spiegelman seems to use drawings to tell his father’s story of the Holocaust for a variety of reasons, both due to his background as well as the literary opportunities presented by using the graphic novel as the medium of choice here. Spiegelman developed an interest in comics at an early age and started drawing professionally by the age of 16. He was also inspired by what he read in fanzines, which are non-professional publications produced by enthusiasts of a cultural phenomenon for others who share their interest.
He read about graphic artists such as Frans Masereel and discussions of making the Great American Novel in comics. At one point, the cartoonist Justin Green asked Spiegelman to contribute a three-page strip for the first issue of Funny Animals, and Spiegelman wanted to do a strip …show more content…
Looking at the scene from before between him and Françoise however shows evidence to suggest that his choices to represent different nationalities were not arbitrary. It would be beneficial, then, to look at and dissect each major nationality represented in the work.
First is the portrayal of Jews as mice. As well as the cat-and-mouse allegory, there has been a history in anti-Semitic works of portraying Jews as mice, or rats. In 1940 there was a German “documentary” called The Eternal Jew, which showed Jewish people crowded in a ghetto, and cut to Jews as rats in a sewer with a card that read, “Jews are the rats” or “vermin of mankind.” The Nazis often referred to the Jews as rats and this shows how they dehumanized them, and the gas Zyklon B was actually a pesticide used to kill vermin. As for the Germans as cats, who better is there to hunt
He read about graphic artists such as Frans Masereel and discussions of making the Great American Novel in comics. At one point, the cartoonist Justin Green asked Spiegelman to contribute a three-page strip for the first issue of Funny Animals, and Spiegelman wanted to do a strip …show more content…
Looking at the scene from before between him and Françoise however shows evidence to suggest that his choices to represent different nationalities were not arbitrary. It would be beneficial, then, to look at and dissect each major nationality represented in the work.
First is the portrayal of Jews as mice. As well as the cat-and-mouse allegory, there has been a history in anti-Semitic works of portraying Jews as mice, or rats. In 1940 there was a German “documentary” called The Eternal Jew, which showed Jewish people crowded in a ghetto, and cut to Jews as rats in a sewer with a card that read, “Jews are the rats” or “vermin of mankind.” The Nazis often referred to the Jews as rats and this shows how they dehumanized them, and the gas Zyklon B was actually a pesticide used to kill vermin. As for the Germans as cats, who better is there to hunt