"Maus" and Why It Matters

 

The first political science course I took in college (at American River College, here in the Sacramento area) was taught by a gentleman who had lived in Tennessee until he graduated college, after which he and his wife moved to California.  During his lectures, he frequently referred, in a sarcastic manner,  to his birth state as "enlightened Tennessee."

Dr. Striplin is no longer with us, but "enlightened Tennessee" has been all over the headlines this month, courtesy of the decision by the McMinn County Board of Education to remove "Maus" from the curriculum.  In a statement released on Thursday, the Board said that it voted to remove the graphic memoir from the county's schools "because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide."  The statement goes on to note that school administrators have been asked to "find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age-appropriate fashion."

The question that comes to my mind is this: what could be more age-appropriate for young learners than an historically accurate, well-written depiction of the Holocaust in the graphic format?  Yes, it is a book filled with pain and suffering - how could it not be? -  as well as one that demonstrates in stark fashion how the impact of the Holocaust crossed entire generations.  But what are we afraid of here, exactly?  And how about we show a little respect for those young learners, who I can't help but think have a greater capacity to understand challenging topics than is assumed by the McMinn board of education.

In the face of this nonsense, of course I had to re-read the book.  The first part of Spiegelman's story was released in 1986 (on the left in the above photo), and though the exact circumstances of my first encounter with it are lost to the mists of time, I'm guessing that it was the Village Voice that alerted me to its existence.  

The genius of Maus is in the way that author Art Spiegelman makes the modern-day story of learning from his father just as compelling as the horrifying tale that his father is telling.  Spiegelman is brutally honest, even painfully so, about his father Vladek.  Vladek's experiences during the Holocaust were incredible, without question.  As Art himself comments in one scene depicted in the book, Vladek's ability to survive the horrors of that time was due in large part to luck, but also to his father's remarkable resourcefulness and present-mindedness.  That comes through powerfully throughout.  But while Vladek survived, something of his humanity did not.  The older Vladek is petty, often irrational, and as depicted in a memorable scene when Art's wife Francoise picks up an African-American hitchhiker with Vladek also in the car, is quite the racist.  

For me, Maus is a landmark book.  And while I've seen some write that it is inaccurate to say the book is being "banned," for me "removing from the curriculum" is at the top of the slippery slope that leads to banning.  It seems unlikely to happen, but here's hoping that the McMinn County Board reconsiders their decision.