Art's art

Maus was fantastic in a brutal way; it presented the uncomfortable realities of World War II in an honest story.  The contents are filled with symbolism and meaning of their own, but I would like to take a second to appreciate the underappreciated: the cover.

This art provides a look into the Nazi perspective and creates a symbol encompassing the entire book.  The cover takes a point of view of a guard.  Razor-wire separates the mice from the viewer, and these mice that Art develops -in this image- are not human.  They all appear identical, unmarked, lacking any emotion; their uniforms are same.  The rich characters and personalities that Spiegelman 136 pages to develop do not exist here.  

The back also furthers the Nazi point of view.  Auschwitz is depicted in a mechanical way with clear labels and an accurate map-like drawing.  Instead of allowing the image of the place that killed hundreds of thousands to reflect any emotion, the picture remains stone cold.  

But like the humans that lost their lives, more exists than the face value.  The book may appear to reflect the Nazi ideals, but within the two covers, humanity exists.  The Nazis failed to open the book and look into the lives of those they were killing; they glanced at the cover and made a choice to never open the book.  The humans-- beings that loved, hated, cried, prayed, laughed, and felt every emotion as others did-- were seen as mice.