This week my English class finished reading Maus by Art Spiegelman. It is a graphic novel depicting the story of Speigleman’s father, during his time spent in Nazi occupied Poland and Auschwitz. This is my favorite piece so far, it incorporates visual depictions of the war but also the feelings about the war as well.

How does Maus tie to the theme of masculinity? Well besides the relationship between Anja and Vladek, where he is the provider and protector; and competitive relationship with father-son.  Not to mention the extreme drive for power, domination and conquering the Nazi regime was exuding. However, I want to focus on the powerlessness of men at this time.

More importantly being male equates one with holding power but in Vladek’s case he had very little power over if he lived or if he died. Granted he was a very clever man and saved himself and others many times but he did not feel the power of his gender as an individual. Most men don’t feel this power on an individual bases. In most cases males are the powerful figures over women, children, and other men; those men that are powerless feel emasculated and feminized, as discussed in an earlier post.

Unlike Vladek who accepted his circumstance and tried to go about things the right way; many people did not do the same. This is the main focus, to look at the several men that betrayed Vladek or asked for something in return for their help. Why would someone feel this need to betray someone in times of war? Audre Lorde, a feminist, discusses the danger in white women allying themselves with white men against minorities. These women are…

“being seduced into joining the oppressor under the pretense of sharing power.*”

Although Lorde is speaking about white women I feel this very statement can be used to describe the many people that allied themselves with the Nazi’s, i.e. the Jewish police, the man that gives Vladek away in the attic (p. 113). These people were seduced into thinking that the Nazi’s would spare them because they sided with them. Yet, many that did this didn’t live long and lost respect from their group. Is it just saving one’s own skin or is it more than that? Is it more about being part of that power the Nazi’s had. Men that feel powerless want to feel powerful, men experience power in a group and Nazi regime was the only powerful group accessible to these men.

Although this has nothing to do with my post I was checking out some graphic novels and I stumbled upon one that is related to war that maybe someone would be interested in.

The Shooting War

“The year is 2011. The global war on terror is raging out of control. The American economy is deep in recession. The president is popping Prozac. When a suicide bomber blows a Brooklyn Starbucks to bits, hipster video blogger Jimmy Burns is in the right place at the right time. His dramatic footage is picked up by Global News (“Your home for 24-hour terror coverage”) and Burns is transformed into an overnight media sensation. The next thing he knows he’s on a Black Hawk flying low and fast towards war-ravaged Baghdad. But Burns’ greatest dream – to become a war correspondent – quickly becomes his greatest nightmare. Everyone from his ratings-ravenous bosses, to a renegade squad of U.S. Army commandos, to a tech-savvy band of murderous jihadists all try to make him their pawn. But Burns has other ideas.”

*AudreLorde. Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2005.

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