Maus And Often A Minute Comparison

Throughout history, humans have encountered adversity and challenges in big and small ways. The Holocaust is one of the most horrible cases of persecution and oppression in the history of the world. In this essay, we’ll see how Maus by Art Spielgman and Often a Minute by Magdalena Klein explore the Holocaust. Maus is a graphic novel about Vladek, a survivor of the Holocaust, and his story. On the other hand, Often a Minute is a poem about the injustices of the Holocaust. Both Maus and Often a Minute portray the theme that no matter how tough things get, you must keep going. Although Maus uses a flashback plot to convey the theme, Often a Minute uses stanzas that shift in tone. Not only do they express the same theme, but they also express a

Maus shows this theme by showing the horrible things that Vladek and Anja had to go through and how they survived. For example, on page 148, panel 2, Vladek and Anja are hiding in a cellar where they have no place to wash, no food, and rats crawling around, but they persevere, and when it is safe, Motonwa, the person hiding them, can give them food and a place to wash off. So this demonstrates how Maus portrays the theme because no matter how tough things get, you must keep going. After all, Vladek and Anja are starving, cold, and itchy but continue to push on in hopes of surviving. Often a Minute portrays the theme; no matter how tough things get, you must keep going. For example, in stanza 3, lines 13 and 14 state, “Why are we always uselessly persecuted? Why is our fate so desolate?” and stanza 6, lines 17 and 18 say, “And shaking off every speck of dust. This indestructible nation shall stand just.” So this demonstrates how Often a Minute portrays the theme because, in stanza 4, the poem describes the treatment of Jewish people and how dire it feels, and in stanza 5, the poem changes and shows how the Jewish people can push through and survive. However, Maus and Often a Minute use vastly different structural elements to portray this