In seven pages Maus is examined in a consideration of its duality. Three sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: LM1_TLCMaus.rtf
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to a new tradition in primary source definition; not only is the author a witness of the ravages inflicted upon his entire family, but he is also a victim himself
of the oppression inherent to an upbringing shrouded by Holocaust memories. "She was a survivor too, like most of my parents friends" (Spiegelman 11). That Spiegelman was not actually
victimized by the Nazis does not preclude his narrative from being just as much a primary source as the literary accounts written by survivors; instead, it presents as an extension
of those firsthand narratives in which the authors depict the horrors they experienced - Spiegelman does the same through the eyes of one who witnessed firsthand how such inhumane treatment
impacted every other aspect of their lives, including raising a family. The primary theme of Spiegelmans Maus revolves around the authors objective to
keep the image of the Holocaust clearly and painfully etched in everyones mind so as not to forget the hideous events of such an inhumane period. Indeed, as the
son of one who experienced the Holocaust, Spiegelman is able to transcend the inherent barriers that often come between primary and secondary sources, where the latter merely assembles information from
myriad places in order to render historic imagery; in this case, the author needed to look no further than his own parents to glean the information he describes in his
account. "Art realizes that no matter how hard he wishes he had been at Auschwitz to experience the horrors first-hand, he is unable to do so. Committing his thoughts
and emotions to a written narrative, the graphic novel MAUS, is the best course of action for him, especially since it allows him to combine his story with his fathers"