The Complete Maus includes many instances of violence: shootings, hangings, poisoning, beatings, starvation, and much more. Sensitive readers should beware.
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The Complete Maus presents a true story of survival during World War II and is set partially at the notorious concentration camp Auschwitz. It offers an opportunity to discuss the Holocaust and its aftermath.
Positive Messages
a lot
The Complete Maus celebrates human resilience and the family bonds that sustain people even in the midst of great tragedy.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Vladek is a complicated person: clever, brave, and resourceful as a young man; neurotic, manipulative, and needy as an old man.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Art Spiegelman's The Complete Maus is a powerful graphic-novel memoir of the Holocaust that features disturbing content. Jews are drawn as anthropomorphic mice; Germans are cats, Poles as pigs. Characters are starved, beaten, shot, gassed, poisoned, and hanged. Others commit suicide. Sexual content is minimal. Adult characters smoke cigarettes.
Of course this is a story of genocide, violence, and horror. But it’s also a true story of resilience, and one that I am sharing with my mature 12-year child by reading it with him and discussing. Don’t be afraid.
The story follows Comic artist Art Spiegelman as he interviews his father about WWII. They tell a before, during, and after so that you can truly understand what life was like normally before and how it could never be that again after. This non-fiction piece is brilliantly put together.
I don't think there can be "Too much" of things in a true story but I marked Violence because its detailed in the gruesome murders (as well as suicide being a common subject) and I marked Sex as they hint to some happenings and there is one panel with breast.
All this said I only read PT 1 so I can't speak to the rating of content for PT 2 yet
What's the Story?
At the start of THE COMPLETE MAUS, cartoonist Art Spiegelman wants to interview his aging father, Vladek, about his experiences in World War II Europe. The older man is reluctant at first, but gradually he talks about his days as an enterprising young man in Poland. When the Nazis arrive and steal the Jewish-owned businesses and factories, Vladek is drafted and quickly becomes a prisoner of war. He escapes, only to be rounded up with his family and sent to the dreaded concentration camp, Auschwitz.
Some works of art change their medium forever, and this graphic memoir is a sterling example of a book that upended all expectations about what comics could accomplish. With a sharp eye and skillful hands, Art Spiegelman tells the story of his father in two time periods, each rendered with powerful emotion. Even though they wear the heads of mice, cats, dogs, and pigs, the characters are all recognizably human in their struggles to survive in the midst of war and terror. Mature readers can learn much about how the Holocaust affected three generations of Europeans.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Complete Maus uses the comics medium to tell its story. Why are some topics particularly suited to becoming graphic novels?
Some of Vladek's associates are slow to realize the danger they're in. How do authoritarian regimes take power without much resistance?
How do his experiences in the war affect Vladek's behavior as an old man? How do survivors of deep trauma cope with their emotions?
Available on:
Paperback, Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated:
January 31, 2022
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By Michael Berry
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