today we're going to go through themes we're going to talk about survival guilt and intergenerational gap i'm going to give you a brief introduction to this novel before we jump into the themes let's get started the complete mouse is a graphic novel which depicts the story of vladick spiegelman a polish jewish holocaust survivor who experienced living in the ghettos and concentration camps during the nazi regime vladic's son art has transformed his story into a comic book through his interviews and encounters which interweaves with art's own struggles as the son of a holocaust survivor as well as the complex and difficult relationship with his father also make sure you stay until the end of this video because i'll be giving you an essay topic that you can go and try yourself and then show you how i went ahead and created a plan and basically how i would respond to an essay topic if you don't know me my name's lisa i scored in the top 2 of my english cohort and i've been teaching students ever since if you're serious about kicking ass in english then i'd recommend that you subscribe to this channel and hit that notification button because i release weekly advice giving you practical easy to understand but effective tips to help you boost your english marks themes survival survival is a key theme that is explored during vladic's experience in concentration camps and his pose holocaust life for example flattick reflects that you have to struggle for life and a means of survival was through learning to be resourceful at the concentration camps resourcefulness is depicted through the physical items that it keeps or requires as well as through vladic skills for example vladik explains to art that he was able to exploit his work constantly through undertaking the roles as a translator and a shoemaker in order to access extra food and clothing by being specially treated by the polish capo he even wins over anja's capo to ensure that she would be treated well by not being forced to carry heavy objects vladic's constant recounts and reflections symbolize survival as zlatic was willing and able to use his skill set to navigate through the camp's work system during the concentration camps food and clothes also became a currency due to its scarcity and vladic was insistent on being frugal and resourceful which meant that he was able to buy anya's release from the i don't know how to pronounce this so please don't shoot me but coconut camp guilt although survival is a key theme the graphic novel explores how holocaust survivors in the complete mouse grapple with their deep psychological scars many of those who survived the war suffered from depression and were burdened with survivor's guilt this can be seen through the character of art's mother anya as 20 years after surviving the death camps she commits suicide after having lost so many of her friends and families she struggled to find a reason as to why she survived but others didn't throughout the graphic novel her depression is apparent in a close-up shot anya appears harrowed and says that i just don't want to live lying on a striped sofa to convey the feeling of hopelessness as if she was in prison her ears are additionally drawn as drooped with her hands positioned as if she was in prison in the context that she must go to the sanatorium for her depression it is not only anya's guilt that is depicted but also art himself who feels partially responsible art feels that people think it's his fault as he says that they think it's my fault and in one panel art is depicted behind bars and that he has committed the perfect crime to illustrate that he feels a sense of guilt in that he never really was the perfect son he believes he is partially responsible for her death due to him neglecting their relationship spiegelman also gives insight to readers of a memory of his mother where she asks if he still loves her he responds with a dismissive sure which is a painful reminder of this disregard intergenerational gap art constantly ponders how he is supposed to make any sense out of auschwitz if he can't even make any sense out of his relationship with his father as a child of jewish refugees art has not had the same first-hand horrific experiences as his parents and in many instances struggles to relate to vladic stubborn and resourceful tendencies art reflects on this while talking to mala about when he could not finish anything his mother served he would argue till i ran to my room crying this emphasizes how he didn't understand wastage or fragility even from a very young age unlike vladic spiegelman also conveys to his readers his sense of frustration with flattick where he feels like he is being treated like a child not as an adult for example art is shocked that vladic would throw out one of art's coats and instead buy a new coat despite vladik's hoarding because he's reluctant and feels shameful to let his son wear his old shabby coat this act could be conveyed to readers that vladik is trying to give a life to art he'd never had and is reluctant to let his son wear clothes that are inappropriate in his eyes however from art's perspective he just can't believe it and does not comprehend his behavior now with all these themes in mind the next thing is to analyze the text in a visual way so to really dive deep into the panels into the shading into the metaphors and symbols throughout the text analyzing techniques in visuals the complaint mouse is a graphic novel which might seem daunting to analyze compared to traditional novels but with countless panels throughout the book you'll have freedom to interpret certain visuals so long as you give reasoning and justification guiding the teacher or examiner on what you think these visuals mean here are some suggested tips focus on the depiction of characters spiegelman may have purposely drawn the eyes of the jewish mice as visible in contrast to the unapparent eyes of the nazis to humanize and dehumanize characters by allowing readers to see the eyes of jewish mice readers can see the expressions and feelings of the character such as anger and determination effectively we can see them as human characters through their eyes the nazi's eyes on the other hand are shaded by their helmets to signify how their humanity has been corrupted by the role they fulfill in the holocaust when the readers see their eyes they appear sinister with little slits of light by analyzing the depictions and expression of characters in this way readers like you and i can deduce how these characters are intended to be seen look at the background in each panel throughout the graphic novel symbols of the holocaust appear consistently in the background in one panel art's parents anja and vladik have nowhere to go a large swastika looms over them to represent that their lives are dominated by the holocaust even in art's life a panel depicts him as working on his desk with dead bodies surrounding him and piling up to convey to the reader the holocaust still haunts him to this day and feels a sense of guilt at achieving fame and success at the expense thus the constant representation of symbols from the holocaust in spiegelman's life and his parents pass in the panel's background highlights how inescapable the holocaust is emotionally and psychologically size of the panels some of the panels in the graphic novel are of different sizes which spiegelman uses to emphasize the significance of certain turning points crises or feelings for example on page 34 there is a disproportionate panel of vladic and anya passing a town seeing the first signs of the nazi regime compared to the following panels all the mice seem curious and concerned peering at the nazi flag behind them this panel is significant as it marks the beginning of a tragic regime that would dominate for the rest of their lives i'll also link you to an essay topic breakdown as well because when you're ready to start writing your essays this is going to be incredibly helpful for you because i show you how i analyze brainstorm and create a plan in breaking down the essay topic this way it gives you the tools to go ahead and create your own essay topic that's absolutely going to nail it thank you so much for watching guys and don't forget to subscribe talk to you guys soon bye