Lessons To Gain For Our Time From Reading Maus
Recently, my oldest decided to check out the graphic novel, Maus by Art Spiegelman at the library. As it is about the Holocaust, it was very timely, so I read it myself. The book reinforced my belief that I mentioned in my post about sending reiki to Putin. That it’s very dangerous to look down at both Putin and the Russians and say “I will never be like them” and leave it at that. It’s imperative to recognize the “evil” parts within, so that we can keep an eye on it. We need checks and balances within ourselves, just as our governments need checks and balances.
Maus documents the author’s conversations with his father, a Holocaust survivor. It is a very frank look into human nature. How our morals disappear when we’re face to face with death. How cruel we can be and how easily we learn to rationalize it. It documents how small disturbing changes over time can screw up the moral compass of an entire group. Our brains love to categorize everything into “right” and “wrong”, but this book demonstrates that nothing is ever that clear.
Early on in the book, for example, the author’s father Vladek is called up to serve in the Polish army. During a battle, he shoots randomly into the air because he doesn’t want to kill anyone. But then Vladek comes face to face with a German soldier and shoots, as he has no choice. When the battle is over, the Germans take Vladek as a prisoner of war and instructs him to carry a body of an injured or dead German back to camp. Vladeck goes back to the man he killed and carries his body. I wonder if there really is a “right” course of action in a situation like this.
Connecting Maus with Current Events
And I couldn’t avoid making parallels between him and the young men fighting for both sides in our current war. These are young boys not much older than my own son. Three months ago, they probably never pictured themselves in the middle of such violence. When the initial adrenaline is gone and they come to terms with what they’ve seen – what they’ve done – how will they deal with that? My heart aches for them.
When viewing the terrible images coming out of Bucha and other Ukrainian areas abandoned by Russian forces, it’s difficult not to demonize the Russians. But people always have a “rational” reason for their actions, though it may seem irrational to others. A conflict never occurs between the “right” and the “wrong”. It occurs between two groups of people who believe they are doing the right thing.
Keeping Ourselves Accountable
The book, Maus, and the current war remind us of our own capacity for brutality when driven by our survival instinct and our righteousness. We must first recognize and then remember this about us. We need to do this so that we can stay vigilant and reign in our violent tendency.
All of us are capable of being misled by our emotions and misinformation. I remember the xenophobia that spread after 9/11, when the words “Go back to your country” were easily pronounced inside this nation made up of immigrants. I also remember being against the invasion of Iraq until I heard Colin Powell explain why it was necessary, only to find out later that he didn’t speak the truth. No one is immune to mob mentality. No one is immune to propaganda.
That’s why we need to be brutally honest with ourselves and challenge our perspectives every chance we get. Our current events demand each of us to keep ourselves in check and make sure that our actions bring more love into this world, not pain.