Week 7 Maus parts 1 and 2 (12pts)

I am so incredibly grateful that this book was a mandatory reading for class. I now find myself recommending it to everyone I come across. What a powerful story. I understand why Spiegelman chose to abstract the story a bit by portraying all of the characters as mice and cats; to lessen the severeness of the topic. However, even so, I felt deeply while reading this story. I cried several times and was in awe by the sheer amount of love that Vladek and Anja had for each other. I felt Vladek's pain and his aching for Anja when he cried and asked his son why he ever remarried and started crying out Anja's name.  To see the beauty of Vladek and Anja's relationship and all they went through together and how their love grew stronger after all of that was truly inspiring. I understood Artie's pain and his contempt for his parents, having undergone childhood trauma but feeling it wasn't valid since it was nothing in comparison to the trauma his parents had gone through in Auschwitz. I appreciate Spiegelman showing us his side of the story and not only giving us one layer. Seeing his relationship with his father really adds to the complexity and emotions of the characters and helps us as readers understand them more fully. I enjoyed this read so much that I plan to buy the book to keep on hand so that I can lend it out to others to read. I've always found books about the holocaust super interesting but this book has really become my favorite on the subject. I think this story is definitely one that should be a mandatory read for kids in school. It leads to a great discussion on not only the events of the holocaust, but love and relationships, as well as trauma and resentment.