Maus I & II

I have said it before and I will say it again, I really like the graphic novel genre. I really got into Art Spiegelman’s stories “Maus I and II” when I first read them a couple of years ago. I have to admit that Will Eisner is an amazing writer and illustrator, but I did prefer Spiegelman’s Tale better.

His whole idea was so clever. I really liked how he chose to represent each different group of people as different specie of animal. The Jews as mice being hunted by the evil German cats. Any individual raised on Tom & Jerry can see the irony in Spiegelman’s choices. (My favorite choice had to be making the French frogs.)

On a deeper level, this truly was an amazing text. The duel storyline of the father’s story of his time in the concentration camp, as well as his own inner struggle he faced due to the success he created on the lives of those who died. He even illustrated the piles of these dead individuals under his drawing desk.

It was even interesting to see how Art suppressed himself through the story. He seems to be a human with a house mask on. This seemed to represent to his readers that he is hiding who he really is, the man under the mask.

All this could not have been depicted so well in just words alone.

Finally Something to Read About

Finally, poetry about something I can relate to. Not only is it about baseball, yay, but the Brooklyn Dodgers no less. I feel as though every time I read a poem it is usually about love or heartache. It is a refreshing change to read about something as “All-American” as baseball.

Pinsky’s poem entitled “The Night Game” represents the assimilation of Jews in America and the problems it causes. Everyone knows there are nothing more American then our own national pastime, Baseball. When Sandy Koufax not only made it into the Major Leagues, but also helped take his team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, to the World Series, this was an amazing occurrence. It is rare that we see such a high profile sports star that is Jewish.

Nevertheless, what was truly inspirational about Koufax was that he refused to pitch the World Series game, which happened to fall on Yom Kippur. He has become a major legend for Jewish Americans all over the nation.

Yiddish in America

Ozick’s story Envy; or, Yiddish in America Edelshtein, the main character, is an immigrant, Yiddishist, and writer. He has yet to break into the mainstream market with his writing because he is unable to have his writing translated from Yiddish into English. Edelshtein believes that Yiddish is a dying language. He resents everyone who turns his or her back on Yiddish. He seems to find conflict with anyone who does not embrace this language with the same fervor and reverence as he.

Edelshtein also seems to secretly envy the fame his biggest enemy receives due to the translation of his work from Yiddish to English. What Edelshtein does not realize is Ostrover’s success lies deeper than just translation. Ostrover speaks to everyone in his writing; Edelshtein only desires to speak to Jews.

Edelshtein seems to begrudge any of the Jews in his life who choose to ignore Yiddish. He believes that turning their back on Yiddish is the same as turning their backs on their past. He is stuck in a world where no one is left to speak his language or read his writing. He wants to open people’s eyes to a dying language.

Edelshtein’s conflict with the character Ostrover represents his issue with this present generation who chooses not to promote the language of Yiddish. Ostrover, like many other Jewish writers, choose to translate writing into English. Edelshtein envies Ostrover’s success.

Edelshtein’s final conflict lies within the future generation. Hannah, the young niece of a friend, is able to read Yiddish and is familiar with Edelshtein’s writings. Edelshtein looks at Hannah as if she herself holds the future of the entire Yiddish language. He places his demand on her, but she is not looking to be the Messiah of the Yiddish language. She no longer wants to bare this burden.

Edelshtein is a walking ghost throughout the entire story. He is a faint representation of the language of Yiddish in America. He is disappointed each by the past, present, and future generations in this country in order to keep this language alive. It seems as though everyone chooses to turn his or her backs on it. Edelshtein is unwilling to accept the death of the language and tries everything in his power to revive Yiddish. However, unfortunately Edelshtein fails. The language is destined to die with him.

The True Victim of the Super

In Eisner’s story “The Super,” the reader definitely has to ask, “Who is the victim in this story?” Is it the creepy Super/pedophile who is banished to the basement? Is it the little ten-year old wanna be prostitute who the Super is accused of molesting? Or could it be the tenants at 55 Dropsie?

I would say that none of these characters are victims. They are all guilty of something in their own way. The Super, even though the young girl took him advantage of, he still was a pedophile. It is true he did show his emotional side to his dog, but still nothing out was pedophilia it is a crime.

As for the young girl, she was guilty of manipulation, stealing and poisoning the dog. Personally, I think she is the guiltiest, but that is just my opinion. Not only did she steal his money and KILL his dog, which is totally unacceptable, but she also started a series of events that resulted in the Super killing himself.

But there is also the tenants of Dropsie Ave. At first read through one might assume that they are the true victims of the story, but I don’t think so. I think they do hold a certain level of guilt in the entire situation. They are responsible for labeling and treating the Super as a “social outcast.” It is almost as if they banished him to the basement, to do their dirty work. Thus resulting in the Super becoming who he was.

In my opinion the true victim here is the poor dog!!!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I had never heard of Will Eisner before this class. I have read graphic novels before, but never one like "The Contract with God Trilogy." Even the words were illustrations. It was almost as if the reader does not have to "read" the text. The entire story is told through its pictures.

Just take the first couple of pages of the first story, “The Contract with God.” The words actually seem to be raining. Eisner really gets his point across about how this poor man, walking through the rainy New York streets is depressed, in just a couple of illustrations.

Take the picture on page five alone. This man, Frimme Hersch, is walking through a monsoon of a rain with his shoulders hung low in a very depressed stance. This exact moment seems to give the reader the message that poor Hersch is having one of the worst days in the world. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong. This rain is just one more thing to add to his misery. The words of the story eventually come to reiterate this message that is initially put forth by the illustration.

As the story progresses it is interesting to see how Eisner manipulates the use of weather to create an interaction between Hersch and God. His illustrations, such as the harsh winds and lightening, as well as the calm that came after the storm when Hersch finally had “enough,” all show the reader God’s response to Hersch’s anger.

From Hester Street to Seinfeld: A Semester Wrap-Up

Everyone knows Seinfeld as the show about "nothing." However, few people have ever looked deeper into the message Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David are trying to create with this nothingness.

These two comedians created a series reminiscent of the early performances of the Marx Brothers, with a slight hint of the Woody Allen whiney self-loathing type. It was amusing to see the evolution of the Jewish performers over the twentieth century through this literature class. Ending the semester with Seinfeld created a great wrap-up to everything that we were working in this class.

It was interesting to see this progression through texts such as the early works of the Bintl Briv all the way down to writings of modern writers like Robert Pinsky. Nevertheless, it was even better to see other works of Jewish literature, beyond just textual content. The movies were very informative because they offered clarification to any images that I created in my head from what these writers were trying to talk about during each period.

It has to be said that my favorite portion of the semester was the graphic novel. I had taken a liking to this for of literature when I first came across Art Spiegelman in Holocaust Literature class. I really enjoy reading graphic novels because they allow for a more interesting creation of the text. The writer can get so much of his or her message across without ever using words, just their illustrations.