Reading questions for Maus [note Sept. 7, 2005: this page superceded by
Maus
Resources Page]
What animals did Art Spiegelman choose to represent different nationalities?
Why?
Do you agree with those choices? What other animals might he have chosen?
Is this comic strip format a good way to tell about the Holocaust?
How accurate is the information in this story, as far as the "historical
facts" of the Holocaust go?
Do Art or Vladek offer any explanations for WHY the Holocaust happened?
If so, what are they?
What do you learn about Auschwitz? How does it compare to Dachau?
Is Vladek’s story a typical one is this what many or most victims
of the Holocaust experienced?
Is there anything in Vladek’s personality that made it more likely for
him to survive?
What problems do historians who were not there face in "telling
the story" of the Holocaust?
What legacies do his parents’ experiences have for Art?
What "lessons" has Vladek learned from his odyssey through
the Holocaust?