Today, most Americans can only imagine what the horrors of the Holocaust must have been like - and, to be frank, they are probably very happy not to have any personal experiences to fall back on. However, the Holocaust and other catastrophic events in history must be kept in mind. Even as Americans who live far from places ravaged by destruction and genocide, we must try to understand the Holocaust, because even events as horrific as the genocide of the Jews in Europe are part of history – and the History has a tendency to repeat itself. Many authors of Holocaust literature seem to believe that awareness is synonymous with prevention. Words and images are an essential part of memory, as evidenced in allegorical Holocaust literature such as that created by authors Art Spiegelman and Eve Bunting. Art Spiegelman, in his books Maus, and Eve Bunting, author of the children's book Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust, show us that words and images are both essential in representations of the Holocaust. The use of an allegory in which animals symbolize people, coupled with careful choices of style and designs for illustrations, is very effective in conveying the message that racism and division can lead, quite simply, to “terrible things”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayMaus is an unusual account of the Holocaust - it is strikingly different from most Holocaust literature aimed at adults, but Spiegelman's work attracted an incredible number of people. readers of all ages. In fact, Maus won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 and has proven to be a staple in many college classrooms. In writing and illustrating Maus, Art Spielgelman took on the difficult task of accurately representing his father's story, as well as depicting the things Vladek told him in a way that audiences could understand and appreciate. Interestingly, he chose to represent the inhabitants of Maus as animals, with each race represented as a different animal. In this allegory, the Jews are represented as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs and when the Americans are introduced in Maus II, they are dogs. In addition to creating an obvious divide between some of the key Holocaust groups, readers can read more deeply into Spiegelman's choice of animals for each race. The cat-and-mouse idea behind the depiction of Germans and Jews is pretty obvious. Speigelman's choice to draw the Poles as pigs could, however, be interpreted in several ways: perhaps they are depicted as pigs because they stand by and do nothing while the Jews are taken away, or perhaps the pig symbolizes the greed and selfishness of the Poles when they took over Jewish homes and businesses after Jews were evacuated from Polish cities. Regardless, Speigelman's depiction of these four races pushes readers to recognize the racial differences, hatred, and segregation that occurred during the Holocaust, and his allegory proves poignant. Throughout Maus and Maus II, Speigelman uses metaphors to highlight division. between races in Europe at the time of the Holocaust. Its two volumes follow Vladek's story from a time when he was a normal Polish citizen, to a time when Jews,Poles and Germans each had their distinct place in society, and finally until a time when Jews were massacred simply for the fact that they were Jews. Speigelman's depiction of Jews as mice helps readers who may know little about such extreme racism understand differences in appearance, dialect, etc. were the main signs that the Nazis used to direct their hatred. During the Holocaust, all European races were human; similarly, in Maus, all the characters are animals, but it is the subtle differences between them that cause the deaths of millions. When Vladek has to take his wife Anja to the sanitarium, Speigelman illustrates a perfect world in which all animals can live in harmony. Although it is ironic that everyone is only at peace when they are in a sanitarium, this is the only time in his two volumes that Speigelman brings all the different species of animals together. Here there are mice, pigs, cats and dogs, but also rabbits, horses, giraffes, goats and frogs. However, once they leave the sanitarium and enter the "real" world again, racism rears its ugly head and they become separated again. Interestingly, Speigelman chooses to send the message that only in a completely artificial and unnatural situation, such as a "hot spring resort", can different races be truly at peace, but it nevertheless adds to the strength of its allegory. uses animals to symbolize groups persecuted during the Holocaust. She and illustrator Stephen Gammell create a forest filled with rabbits, squirrels, fish, birds, frogs and porcupines. All the animals live together in peace until terrible things happen in the forest and upset the harmony of nature. Terrible things are not depicted as animals, as the Nazis are in Maus, but rather as ethereal, haunting shadows that blot out the sun. The first time the Terrible Things come to visit us, they say, "We have come for every creature with feathers on its back." All the animals in the forest say: "We have no feathers" - except of course the birds, which are then taken away. Each time they return, the Terrible Things take a different type of animal, while those that don't meet the criteria look away, happy to be able to stay in the clearing. However, the Terrible Things keep coming back until they have taken away all the animals except the white rabbits. Little Rabbit is afraid and wants to move, but Big Rabbit says, "Why should we move? This has always been our home. And the Terrible Things won't come back. We are the White Rabbits. This couldn't happen to us." ". And then, of course, it does: the white rabbits are taken away, all except Little Rabbit who is small enough to hide in the rocks. In the end, Little Rabbit realizes that "If only had we creatures stayed together, it could have been different.” Speigelman's racism metaphor is echoed in Terrible Things, and here it is particularly effective in teaching young children that no matter how different people are. are, bad things can happen to anyone. The message of the book is that it is important to stick together and try to help each other rather than ignoring everyone's suffering. however Maus in the sense that each race is not associated with a specific animal Additionally, the Nazis, or the Terrible Things, are not depicted as animals, but rather as lurking menacing clouds.above the forest. Terrible Things is more abstract than Maus, in that the animals do not represent particular groups (probably because such references would most likely be lost on children, the intended audience); The allegory here focuses on the obvious differences that children can see (feathers, color, ability to swim, etc.). Each group of forest animals has distinct differences, and each time the Terrible Things come to take a few of them away, the animals that remain are very happy that it's not their turn. Although this story may be disturbing to younger children, it is effective in alerting readers that the differences between people should not cause such divisions that they allow terrible things to happen. As Bunting says as a sort of preface to Terrible Things: “In Europe during World War II, many people looked away while terrible things happened. They pretended not to know that their neighbors were being taken away and locked up in concentration camps. They pretended not to hear their cries for help. The Nazis killed millions of Jews and others during the Holocaust If everyone had united at the first sign of evil, would this have happened? Bunting invites children and adults to think about the consequences of their own actions and prejudices, and Gammell's illustrations throughout Terrible Things inspire in children the same discomfort and sadness as Speigelman's images of hatred and death in Maus inspire adults. So the image associated with the words, as we see here, can have a big impact. Images can communicate things that even words cannot, and are particularly relevant in the context of Holocaust literature. When depicting the Holocaust through images, it is important to consider factors such as style, color and location. As an illustrator, one must consider the effect the illustrations will have on the viewer, and both Spiegelman and Gammell have made choices that enhance the reader's understanding and convey a clear message. Both illustrators depict their subjects in simple black and white, and both ensure that the images occupy each page in such a way that they become the main focus of the books. The use of black and white is compelling for depictions of the Holocaust, even when animals are the subject, because any actual photographs readers might have seen during this time would have been in black and white. Black and white is also often used to express the seriousness of a situation, and using these shades to illustrate Maus and Terrible Things allows Speigelman and Gammell to create serious and dark messages about the possible consequences of hatred. Additionally, images take center stage in these books, probably because the story behind the Holocaust is actually about the people, the victims, and what happened to them, rather than just a body count account or a story of how Hitler arrived. to acquire such power. For all their similarities, however, there are marked differences between the styles of the two illustrators. While Spiegelman uses thick black lines and a comic book format, Gammell uses pencil drawings and a more realistic style. Both illustrators' images are full of impact, however, as they have such power and presence on the page. The lack of color draws the reader to the image and causes them to analyze what they see. 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