A few thoughts on Maus.
First of all, I want to underscore that people who have not read Maus are not entitled to an opinion about the propriety of children reading the book, whether under the tutelage of an educator, or on their own. Anyone who ventures: "I haven't read it, but. . ." is out of bounds.
I am a long time reader of Shoah literature, a parent who educated his children early, and a fan of the narrative technique employed in the graphic novel. And certainly I am fan of the message of Maus. Especially in a time of unparalleled division and moral confusion.
A few observations that have escaped the bloviators:
1. There are no people in Maus, mostly cats and mice, who do not customarily wear clothing. If your child sexualizes rodents and felines, your problems neither begin, nor end, with Maus.
2. The fundamental human problem addressed in Maus is the lack of empathy that a nation of human beings showed for one or more of their component groups--the wholesale dehumanization, attribution of otherness, and gratuitous brutality that led to the Shoah. Not by soldiers, in war--but by every aspect of German society, and for that matter, Austrian and other European nations all too ready to participate.
Empathy and solidarity is in short supply in 2022 America. As a vehicle for promoting empathy, warning of the dehumanization of other people by immutable characteristic---Maus is effective beyond mere words. No reader could conceivably suffer harm greater than benefit. Either you are too young to take anything from it, or you are old enough to grasp its tragedy. It may be a perfect bridge between those stages, since kids respond to anthropomorphism, as Disney has long demonstrated. What trauma unique to Maus would NOT be conveyed by another book decrying racism, anti-semitism, and senseless murder? Is there a "clean" way to teach about Mengele and Crematoriums?
3. I would very much like to hear from the proponents of this culling of libraries where they have stood on the video games and TikTok videos and violent films their kids digest daily. I submit that the average 10 year old in America sees entire worlds blown up with no moral lesson attached, entire populations wiped out on every streaming service out there. Do these parents set about blocking, culling, or editing the latest Call of Duty? Is the library somehow more sacrosanct a source of information than one's own home?
4. It is too cute by half to point out that there is more illicit sex and violence in the Bible and Quoran than in any book the Tennessee Board of Education would remove, and the moral messages in those religious tracts are far more opaque than the very direct and unsubtle Maus. But here we are: Too cute by half is also undeniably accurate.
5. When people tell you who they are, believe them. And when they tell you that a book about the Shoah doesn't teach what they want to teach, ask them what book they will hand their kids and get them to read in the way Maus communicates a message of empathy and the indispensable value of human kindness, and the burgeoning and recurrent threat of racism and nativistic violence. If they tell you they will get back to you on that, then they have won a zero-sum game: they have acted against empathy and created a vacuum with the loss of a tool to erase anti-semitism and cruelty. What will replace Maus? Show me the better vehicle for this lesson, before you remove it.
They should be incorporating it in every curriculum, not removing it without replacement.
And here's a hint: Look for the kid who fails to find meaning and moral direction in Maus. That's the one to fear.
