First Person Narratives in Maus
All semester I've been sort of preoccupied with the rhetorical device of the first person narrative. Often riddled with hyperbole, we accept people's first person narratives every day. "I sat at a red light for five minutes on my way to work today" is a total stretch, but I don't often hear people respond with "Woah. Woah. I don't believe you shutupohmygodyoureblowingthisoutofproportion." Often times, when we are talking about stories of oppression, especially when an oppressed person is telling that story, as members of (any) privileged group, our suspension of disbelief is suddenly out the window. The oppressed must be over sensitive, too touchy, must be blowing things out of proportion. So often perfectly logical explanations are offered up. "Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean to be racist." "Well he wasn't saying it in that way." "Listen, I have a (insert ID group here) friend and *they* aren't offended by it."
Really, our first person narratives are all we have. They are the singular most powerful tool. People connect with and remember our stories. That's why it is so important for me to value everyone's first person narrative equally, especially in stories of oppression.
This is where reading Maus gets tough for me. There are so many different narratives warped and woven into the novel that it's difficult for me to give every character an equal amount of respect. If I believe VLadek's first person narrative, am I devaluing Art's? If I believe Art when he shows all of that unspoken pressure Vladek puts on him to be everything Richieu could have been, am I saying that Vladek didn't try his hardest to be a good father? To want only the best for his son? To push his son to live up to his potential?
What of Mala and Vladek? Am I supposed to accept this money hungry version of Mala that Vladek insists is her true self? If I do that, aren't I just blindly accepting another negative portrayal of a woman in media created by a man?
Jesus H. #confused
