Tension in Maus: The Graphic Novel Depiction of the Horrors of the Holocaust

Abstract

The writing process is difficult. From the endless research to the countless number of drafts that aren’t even used, it can feel fruitless at times. I had a really difficult time narrowing down my topic because I felt as though I had so many big ideas and not enough time or space to explore them. After many meetings and a lot of secondary source reading I finally realized that I wanted to talk about the Holocaust. This was an event that spoke to me because my grandparents had lived through it, and my father was the product of survivors. This hunt led me to Maus, which is a graphic novel written by the son of Holocaust survivor Vladek. I identified with this novel because of the prevalence of the Holocaust in my life as well as the similarities and differences I saw. Using this as my primary source, I began to build the basis of my essay