Monday, October 20, 2014

Illustrations .vs. Text: Maus

  1. Art Spiegelman has chosen to tell a very sad and serious story in a form that is not often associated with this kind of story telling (illustration). Do you think the use of illustration as opposed to just written text is an effective way of delivering this story? Why or why not?


 I think the illustrations provide a comic relief that would be unattainable to the reader if the book had been expressed purely with words. Had Spiegelman chosen to write this tale of his father's life in words, he wouldn't be able to control the images in our mind to the extent he does and the seemingly unbearable sadness that would trace every word. The illustrations and the horrific events balance each other out and Spiegelman from here is able to tip the scale to play with our emotions however he wants. It's brilliant, actually, but kind of scary.

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