Reading Beyond the Text

The majority of Maus, by Art Spiegelman, is chalked full of hidden meanings. One could spend hours analyzing a single page and still miss the main idea the author was trying to portray. On the contrary, one could notice things the author didn't even intend, that further enrich the story. The unique part about Maus is that the interpretations are endless. Have you ever heard the expression, "a picture speaks a thousand words?" Well, it's true. The images illustrated in Maus don't confine the reader to one meaning or idea, they stretch the readers understanding and comprehension of the text to form a variety of interpretations. 

For example, on page 114 of the first volume of Maus, the third frame might just look like a pocket watch and a window, but they are so much more. 

This single frame is loaded with hidden meanings. For instance, the thick black bars of the window resemble a prison cell. The pocket watch also looks like some sort of lock. The pocket watch is also attached to a chain. Now that we've noticed all of that, lets take it further. What are prison cells used for? Confinement, right? Well, maybe Spiegelman meant for the window to symbolize the nazi's detainment of the Jews. Why is it significant for the pocket watch to be on a chain? Well maybe it means that the Jews were chained in time, or that the nazi's kept tight reigns on the Jews lives. Maybe the pocket watch looks like a lock with no key because no one had found a solution to the Holocaust at that time. 

 All of the assumptions I've just made about the text could be intentional, or they could not. It's up to the reader to challenge the text and always look for different angles. 

Leave a comment down below of anything you may have noticed from this single frame. Remember, the possibilities are endless!