This is a Metaphorical Mirror

OFFICIAL SCRIPT CAST: Main Actor (MA)- generic school boy, very relatable to viewers Narrator (NA)- gentle voice, reassuring viewers Cool Kid (CK)- fashionable, model Peers/ Passerbys- extras Seller (S): even cooler-looking than CK. NA in physical form. SCENE 1:  MONDAY, INT. SCHOOL- DAY NA (voice over): Does everyone at school think you're lame (make it sound like a statement/fact)  MA walking down hallway, smiles at Passerbys. Cue sad music in background when Passerbys return smile with a weirded-out face, so MA is sheepish. He enters full classroom with head down and shoulders hunched. Teacher and peers laugh at him when he sits in the wrong desk and stumbles to the right one. NA: Do you wish you could make yourself cool (?) Close-up on MA dreamily gazing at CK and the crowd gathered around him. Two peers fan him with giant leaves. MA gets up, grabs hall pass, and walks out into hallway, looking dejected. Abrupt pause in sad music, c...

The picture to the right of the page from Maus is a Nazi propaganda poster targeting the Americans. Looking at it carefully, you'll see that each detail is a mockery of America's own issues. The girls on the shoulders wearing the beauty pageant sashes mocks the idea of being awarded a title like "World's Most Beautiful Leg." One of the girls, "Miss America," is wearing a Native American plains- Indian head-dress, demonstrating the mistreatment of Native Americans. Gangster problems and gun violence is represented with the gun. The guy is wearing a Ku-Klux-Klan mask while there are Blacks trapped in his rib (bird) cage, doing the jitterbug dance- supposedly an animalistic ritual. Indiscriminate military violence is demonstrated with the bomb for the bloodied foot. "Liberators" is the name of a U.S. bomber plane. Ironic, no? The malignant influence of Jews and Freemasons is shown with the flag of the Star of David hanging from the drum... Th...

What? You have a different favorite color than I do? We can’t be friends. In fact, I never want to see your face again until you admit that my favorite color is infinitely better than yours. I’m right about everything. Why don’t people see that? Man, I wish there were a world where everyone was exactly like me: the same thoughts, opinions, reactions, ideas, etc. Wow, how amazing does that sound? We would all live on the beach. Probably in Hawaii. The world as we know it now would be completely foreign compared to the World of Jennas. Money? Psh naaah. Responsibilities? Hah! And what even is "time"?? What a peaceful place this world would be. We would all live in harmony. There would be no disagreements! People whose favorite color is purple can be my chefs. And maids. Yes, they’ll have nothing better to do anyways. Purple is such an ugly color. They must be ugly people. Man, I can see this perfect world so clearly in my head- surfing all day, jamming all ...

  (The above picture is taken from Art Spiegelman's novel, Maus, page 83) My Interpretation: 1.      Here, again, Spiegelman uses stripes to portray a sense of imprisonment. The stripes are diagonal instead of vertical. This change occurs when the family is pushed out of the “luxury life [they] had before,” and into the place with minimal space- the almost ghetto. Thinking about it, diagonal lines are tougher to get through than vertical ones of the same width. This could represent the strengthening of power on the Jews- they're trapped even more. The black holes that interrupt the diagonal pattern look like barbed wire to me. If you readers have any other ideas as to why Spiegelman does this, comment because I’m curious. He does it on the previous page as well, but with snow.  2.      This is meant to be a cloud, but the cloud alludes to the smoke that shows up repeatedly throughout the book. It’s a dark, heavy presence, fo...