Essay on Art Spiegelman's Maus and Justin Green's Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary
The two comic books, “Maus” and “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary” have similarities in the style used in writing. A self-confession style is deployed in communicating to the reader. The authors express their sincere thoughts in a comic including tragedies as in the case of Art. Art Spiegelman conveys his trauma after the death his brother Richieu. He has psychiatrist showing his state of being. The dilemma of Art of whether to express his French Moly wife as mouse or cat allows the reader to his thoughts during a decision making process. The main character in “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary” is Binky Brown. He feels guilty as a result of Catholic faith’s influence. At a young age, Brown breaks a statue of Virgin Mary which makes him remorseful (Green, 1972). His insistent deplorable thoughts further affect his guilt-ridden conscience.
Also, the literary works employ the use of graphics. Art includes cartoons with human bodies and animal heads (Doherty, 2016). The metaphorical use of animals such as mice and cats convey a message about the events which take place in the book. Similarly, Binky Brown utilizes graphical artwork to communicate the themes put across in the book. A chained man in the book demonstrates how Binky's thoughts bound him and his solace was in praying and repenting his sins. The utilization of visual aid compliments the texts present in the book.
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Besides, language used in Maus and Binky Brown Meets Virgin Mary have comparable qualities. For instance, the use of precise and straightforward phrases can be depicted. The horrors of Holocaust are recounted to the author by the character Vladev during interviews which the Art captures for later reference (Doherty, 2016). Binky's persona describes the deplorable thoughts that go through his mind.
The works are hybrid genres with realism and comic rolled in one. Justin struggles with the compulsive disorder and is later diagnose shows that he suffers from religious and moral obsessive-compulsive disorder. The character Binky tells of Justin's real life. Application of realism is present in the literary works. Justin is born to Jew and Catholic and attended a Catholic school. Even if not all the occurrences in work are non-fiction, the life of the author is reflected in his work. The creator of Maus writes autobiography as he reconstructs his relationship with his father. The details about Art's life constitute an autobiography.
The Maus and Binky Brown Meet the Virgin Mary also share the Semitic themes. Both writers, Art, and Justin, have partial Jewish origin. Art is born to Polish Jews Vladev and Anja whereas, Justin is born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father. The Jews suffered racism during the World War II. Justin attends a Catholic learning institution and later another school with most students being Jews.
The works also contrast in various ways. The Maus, for instance, comprises biography as Art includes his father accounts of Holocaust after interviewing him. This is depicted by the phrase, “I looked in, but I don't remember [...] Only I know what she said, 'I wish my son when he grows up, he will be interested in this” (Spiegelman, 1991).
The above quote is a reply to Art from Vladev regarding Anja's diary.The author narrates his father's life story. The past life of Vladev, Art's father, constitutes a large part of Maus (Whitlock & Poletti, 2008). On the other hand, Justin's work consists majorly of an autobiography where the author discloses his life in a somewhat humorous manner.
Another difference is the themes discussed in the comic books. The Maus analyzes Nazism and racism in addition to guilt whereas Binky Brown mainly conveys the author's impure thoughts and the subsequent blame. The cause of remorse in Maus arises from the death of close family members to the author whereas guilt in the other book comes from wicked thoughts of Binky Brown.
Characterizations differ from Maus to Binky Brown meets Virgin Mary. The Maus has various main characters including Vladev Spiegelman, Art Spiegelman, Mala Spiegelman Anja Spiegelman and Francoise Moly. The main character in Binky Brown meets Virgin Mary is Binky Brown who unfolds his own life and inner thoughts. And the plot of the artworks exhibits disparities. The Maus include the doings of the Germans during World War II and the movement of Spiegelman family from Poland through other locations and finally to America. The plot Justin's work, contrary, revolves around the life of Binky Brown only.
The presentation of conflict in the works is different. Binky Brown Meets Virgin Mary demonstrates conflict mainly within Binky Brown whereas Maus displays a wide range of divergence. As portrayed, there is a conflict between the author and his father. Apart from that, the struggle between German, Polish and Jewish people is evident throughout the book. Furthermore, the author has intrapersonal disagreement as he tries to decide which animal’s head to use to represent Moly who has converted to Judaism. All in all, the use of conflict, plot and theme by the authors have played a significant role in the passage of the message. Spiegelman’s employment of graphics has brought a pictoral perspective of his message and has even made the novel more fascinating to read.
References
Doherty, T. (2010). Art Spiegelman's Maus: Graphic Art and the Holocaust. American literature , 68 (1), 69-84.
Green, J. (1972). Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary . McSweeney's Books.
Spiegelman, A. (2016). Maus: A survivor's tale (Vol. 1). Random House Digital, Inc..
Whitlock, G., & Poletti, A. (2008). Self-regarding art. Biography , 31 (1), v-xxiii.
