When one thinks of reading, the first thought that comes to mind is not usually the comic strip they laugh over as they drink their coffee on Sunday morning. People generalize reading as curling up with their favorite novel, and forget about the powerful message a reader can receive from visual text. In the comic strip "Maus: A Survivor's Tale" by Art Spiegelman, the reader is communicated the ideas of racism, perspective, and hierarchy through Spiegelman's text and images.  

From the first glance at the comic, it is clear a survivor of the Holocaust narrates the story. Spiegelman uses the powerful perspective of the story to ensure a sense of legitimacy to the reader. This story is one that is communicated from father to son, and takes place in the World War II era of Nazi Germany. The narrator of the story is someone who firsthand experienced the absolute horror of the Holocaust, and can describe his emotions and experience with great detail to enhance the understanding of the reader. The narrator recalls being summoned to the stadium in town where the legitimacy of their citizenship was expected to me assessed. In the stadium were "almost all the Jews of Sosnowiec, and from the other villages near, maybe 25 or 30,000 people" (137). Not only can Spiegelman explain a situation in his story, but also he can physically put himself back in the event through his memory. The narrator is able to explain the story from his perspective, and his perspective is from a cramped stadium in Germany surrounded by thousands of fellow Jews all worried about the same things. This unique perspective of every situation in the story is one that enhances the text throughout the comic, and provides great explanations for the pictures included within the text. 

The images that go along with the text in the comic are full of hints and clues to help one better understand the story. By paying careful attention to these pictures, the reader can pick up on a repeated influence of racism throughout the entire comic. The first hint of this racism one should discover is in the characters physical features in the illustrations. In the comic, the Jewish people are illustrated as mice, while the Nazi's are drawn in form of cats. Mice are the typical prey of cats, a metaphor for the hunting the Nazi's did to ensure all Jews were put into camps and many of them killed. It would also seem natural for mice to be afraid of cats, which is exactly what occurred when Jews were put into camps and were very unsure of what their future would be. Nazi's also insisted "Jews are the rats" and "vermin of mankind," making the connection to the mice in the comic obvious ("Why Mice?"). The Nazi's specifically targeted Jews in a nation full of different ethnicities and races, while other religions were left with no trouble. This racist approach from the Nazi's is one that led to genocide and the attempted demolition of the Jewish religion by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Through the images in the text the reader is able to see the clear representation of both the Nazis and Jews, this information is pivotal in order to gain a full understanding of Spiegelman's message. 

Spiegelman manipulates his illustrations in the comic in order to represent the hierarchical status of the environment. If the reader pays attention to the illustrations that go along with the text, they will discover that the Jews are always perceived as inferior to the Nazis. The illustrator is able to send this message by making it seem as the Nazis are towering over the Jews in every picture, and are always in the position of power. It seems as through the Nazis are treating the Jews as if they are animals, by rounding them up, packing them into a select location and then essentially planning their deaths. The Nazi's are in complete power in every section of the comic, while the nervous Jews stay at their mercy. The Nazis separate families into different concentration camps, which led to family members never seeing their loved ones ever again. The Jews are illustrated in a way that shows fear in all of the pictures. These Jews had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they walked into the stadium, and had no idea what they were headed too when they left for concentration camps. This general confusion and fear is shown in the illustrations as families scramble to stay together, and loved ones risk their lives to protect those close to them. 

  Spiegelman composes a great piece of visual text with his "Maus: A Survivor's Tale" comic that highlights the importance of racism, perspective and hierarchy. The visuals that go along with the text truly enhance the comic as a whole, and provide the reader with a much more clear understanding of Spiegelman's story. Through the illustrations in the comic, the reader is able to draw conclusions and interpretations different than that of strictly reading text, something that enhances the experience of the story as a whole completely.  

