By Gabrielle Grosbety, Staff Editor
Maus by Art Spiegelman is a critical nonfiction graphic novel about the Holocaust which has been recently banned by a Tennessee school district for its use of profanity and depictions of nudity, violence, and suicide.
For a while now, there has been a surging need by conservative parents and administrators to protect children from the horrors of the world—upbringing them, instead, into an insular, sheltered existence. However, without being wholly informed and learning the stories and experiences of the past and what has shaped us into the nation we are today, children are losing knowledge that will teach them to more deeply understand and process fundamental atrocities and injustices.
Children are much more intelligent and ready to learn than some give them credit for. Focusing on the relative minutiae of nudity and cursing (which are both used in order to tell a more truthful narrative) conveniently distracts from greater, more harmful realities that some are seeking to cover up. This cover up comes from an urge to control and filter what is being taught because some are fearful of tarnishing children’s innocence.
Loss of innocence is inevitable and necessary for intellectual and emotional growth. And the truth may be equally as painful to confront, but it is also more vital than ever in this day and age of alternative facts. Anybody and everybody will have an opinion, but suppressing the ability for children to build their own is destructive and robs them of the ability to be and grow into autonomous, free thinkers.
Censorship is also notably prevalent for graphic works because they are visual mediums that force the reader to engage with the horror on a visibly jarring level. However, trauma is complex, and in order to work through it and discuss it, we need to be honest about it. This includes being honest about how it took root, progressed, and became what it is today, even if that means referencing all of its ugliness.
The trauma specifically from the Holocaust is intergenerational and afflicts the memory of many, even the children that had to live through it, which is another testament to how if those children were able to live through such severe, distressing conditions, other children should be able to learn about them.
This is Spiegelman’s story to tell and it’s such an impactful one that should not be resisted or repressed for anyone or anything. That would be incredibly sabotaging toward this generation of learners and thinkers and many to come.
In order to achieve deeper engagement and hold more constructive conversations, knowledge must be made accessible to all.
Image credit: Original work by Annarose King, Staff Photographer
