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Similarities Between Maus And We Wear The Mask

1083 Words5 Pages

Everett Richie
Mrs. Mesecher
Literacy 8, Period 2
10 May 2023
Maus & We Wear The Mask Throughout history, humans have encountered adversity and challenges in large or small ways. The Holocaust is one of the most horrible cases of persecution and oppression in the history of the world. Two pieces of literature that explore the tribulations and triumphs of the Holocaust are Maus by Art Spiegelman and We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman written by his son Artie, in the book Vladek tells Artie his story of how he and his wife Anja survived the war. We Wear the Mask is a poem written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar about a community that has to wear masks. Both Maus and We Wear The Mask portray the theme push …show more content…

Maus uses a flashback plot to portray the theme because there are two parts to the story, Vladek’s present life in Queens and him remembering his experiences in the war. For example, on page 106, panel(s) 1-2, the story switches from Vladek walking with Artie to him having a flashback of the war. This demonstrates how Maus uses a flashback plot to portray the theme because Vladek has a flashback to how he pushed through and survived the camps even though the living conditions in the camps were horrible. We Wear The Mask uses stanzas to portray this theme because they help to emphasize shifts in tone and emotion. For example, in stanza 3, line(s) 10-11 states “We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries; To thee from tortured souls arise.”. This demonstrates how We Wear The Mask uses stanzas to portray the theme because they emphasize the emotion and perseverance in the poem. Lastly, Maus and We Wear The Mask, as well, express a certain tone both similarly and …show more content…

Maus and We Wear The Mask both express a worried tone in similar ways because Maus and We Wear The Mask are set in places where you have to hide your real identity and be constantly alert to stay alive. For example, on page 140 of Maus, panels 6-8, Vladek has to put on his mask and take the streetcar into town, Vladek realized that if he traveled on the German officials car that no one noticed him, and stanza 3 of We Wear The Mask, lines 13-15, state “Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!”. This demonstrates how Maus and We Wear The Mask express a worried tone in a similar way because they both describe having to hide your identity and be alert of what is happening around in order to survive. However, Maus and We Wear The Mask, as well, both express a worried tone in different ways because Maus is in the form of one specific person’s story and We Wear The Mask is in the form of a less specific poem. For example, on page 58 of Maus, panel 2, Vladek is working in the POW camp and he get worried because he sees German soldiers arrive, but in stanza 3 of We Wear The Mask, line 12, states “We sing, but oh the clay is vile”. This demonstrates how Maus and We Wear The Mask express a worried tone in different ways because one has a very specific example of being worried while the other has a very broad

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