Vladek Hands In Maus Essay

Hands are a recurring motif that appear constantly throughout the progression of the graphic novel, Maus. The hands of Vladek Spiegleman him in his survival regarding the Holocaust: as difficulties approached him, he used his hands to bribe his way out of them; he even secures a road to freedom with his ability to write in different languages. Prior to the Holocaust, his hands were delicate since he hardly ever executed physical labour, however during the holocaust he was forced to use his hand to do tedious labour. That is why Vladek is constantly searching for work to do. No one is forcing his hands to work anymore-they’re independent, but he is always stuck in the holocaust and isn’t moving on. This motif has therefore become a visual representation

Not only do Vladek’s hands play an important role here, but so do Art’s. Unlike fantasy comics that usually have a type written print, Art uses his handwriting, thus personalising the issue and further emphasising the emotions and reality associated with the story. Subsequently, this humanises the issue and positions viewers to be more empathetic towards the characters as opposed to the feelings that one has towards comic characters. The page entitled “hands” is the first time where Art emphasises the visual rhetoric related with the characters’ hands.

The page begins with a text box that is relatively big in comparison to the other text boxes. In it, the reader gets Vladke’s voice over which narrates his story; this therefore sets the scene. Below this is the first panel where the cat is placed in the foreground while the mice occupy the scene’s mid-ground, positioning it to seem much

Due to the absence of the colour, the lines in their face suggest that their face has lost all its colour and they are utterly terrified. Here, Vladek and the cat are placed in the foreground positioning the reader to primarily focus on the interactions between