A Second Look at 'Jobnik!'

My opinion of Miriam Libicki’s Jobnik! changed considerably after the discussion in class on Wednesday. More specifically, the background information that was given at the beginning of class helped me to understand more of the references in Jobnik!. I feel that my lack of understanding of these references significantly affected my initial opinion of the book.

First, I did not know that Jobnik! was a collection of issues and not a one-shot graphic novel. This made me realize that there is more to the story than what I had read in this collection. For example the trip to Canada made more sense when considering it is only a small fraction of the entire story. It would be interesting to read more and see how the story continues.

Second, I did not realize much of the Israeli culture. I did not know that the military is so important to Israel and that people are required to serve for 2 years. This explains why so many young people were in the IDF and the seniority effect. I also didn’t know all of the reference to the Israel-Palestine conflicts that occurred around 2000. Not knowing this made the story a little more difficult to read. Additionally, the ‘Sabra’ ideal explains why the men are so gruff and unemotional at times.

Third, the stars scene did not really make sense to me at first. I thought it was just supposed to be artistic or something. After hearing that there was a similar picture drawn by a Jewish illustrator in the early 20^th century, this scene makes more sense. I found Miriam Libiki’s knowledge and respect for other artists quite interesting.  

My opinion changed after learning the background information for Jobnik!. I am still not a big fan of the book, but I understand it better and would be interested in seeing how it continues in further issues.

My Opinion of Jobnik?

I’m not really sure how I feel about Jobnik! at this point. I find the idea of an autobiographical graphic novel about a woman fighting in the Israeli army to be intriguing as well as original. However, I feel that this story would be more useful if it was looking at a woman’s relationships with male soldiers in general rather than looking at her intimate relationships with over-eager men. Somehow I get the feeling that I am not getting the whole picture of what it would be like as a woman soldier.

Another issue I have is that the dialogue in the first book is so unorganized. It seems that several people are talking at once, and I don’t know what is going on. This pattern seemed to decrease as Jobnik! progressed, but I often found it hard to keep up with the almost irrelevant shifts in the story. Most notable were her flashbacks in book five and the trip back home in book six. Perhaps I missed something in the story, but I really did not see how these fit in with the story.

While I have opinions on some things about the story and frankly do not understand other things, I do feel that there is potential for Libicki’s graphic novel. I am sure that I did not read into things as fully as I could have and that there are themes that I did not pick up. Hopefully the essays in The Jewish Graphic Novel will clear some of this up.

A Second Look at 'Rabbi's Cat'

After reading Paul Eisenstein’s article in The Jewish Graphic Novel, I was able to pick out a few major themes in Rabbi’s Cat. Something about professional essayists- they are always able to pick up on things like that. Anyway, one theme that I quickly identified in my own reading of the story was questioning tradition. Jewish tradition is definitely seen in Rabbi’s Cat and is most certainly challenged by the cat as well as the French Jews in the story.

Eisenstein argues that the cat can be seen as a nontraditional Jew. While this can be explained by the cat’s argument over his Jewish-ness with the rabbi, I think the main idea is that the cat (now able to speak) challenges the traditional beliefs of Judaism, held by both the rabbi and the ‘rabbi’s rabbi’.

The cat’s challenge of Jewish tradition in ‘Rabbi’s Cat’ reflects the issue of adaptability in modern-day religion. Tradition in general means rejection of new ideas and sometimes objects in order to keep religious belief and practice safe from corruption. I believe that through the challenges highlighted in the book by the cat, Joann Sfar is making the point that religion should not be dictated by the tradition of a paternal authority, but rather it should involve a personal interpretation. According to Sfar, without personal interpretation of Judaism and taking on new ideas and objects, the religion loses its authenticity. 

For the Love of Cats

As I started reading ‘Rabbi’s Cat’, I was wondering to myself what the message of the story would be. The story seems to revolve around the cat and his perspective on Jewish life in Algeria. At this point I thought maybe the author just loves cats and wants to write a story revolving around the cat. Once the cat started speaking I thought of a possible deeper meaning: the cat is a metaphor for humans and the fall to sin in Genesis.

Similar to Adam and Eve who desire to be like God, the cat desires to speak as the humans in the story do. He succeeds by eating the parrot- the forbidden fruit. Similar to the account in Genesis, the cat lives a life that is not what God intended, as the rabbi points out. The story started to have a meaning at this point, and I was interested in how it would play out. However, when the cat lost the ability to speak, I was confused. If he is a metaphor, how does this fit in? Was it God’s punishment for disobeying?

I am really not sure what the point of the cat speaking was or even the message of the story, but Joann Sfar does bring up some interesting religious topics. The cat debates with the rabbis on several issues and questions traditional beliefs held in Judaism, which reflects the questions that many people face in their religions. Also, Jules’ parents are very secular, but are still considered respectable people by the rabbi in the end of the book. This addresses the question of whether people can be ‘good’ in the eyes of God even without living piously.

Again, I am not sure what the message of the story is supposed to be. It could be a metaphor for the Genesis account, a reflection of modern critiques of religions, or a simple portrayal of life. In any case the story revolves around the cat, so I conclude that the Joann Sfar just loves his cat.

Surviving the Holocaust

As I read the second book of Maus, I thought about the accounts of a few Holocaust survivors. It seems that each one has a different explanation for how they survived the Holocaust. While there may be legitimate arguments for why people survive and others do not, it is also plausible to say that it is just random as the therapist in book II says. One thing that we do know is that the explanations of survival that many prisoners must have taken before they died are not known. 

The first account is Art’s father, Vladek. He did not elaborate much on his explanation except that he survived because he used his head. It was made apparent that throughout his story, he was clever in avoiding starvation and sickness. He takes on jobs as a tin man and a shoe maker in order to stay a valuable asset to the soldiers. Being smart is Vladek’s explanation for why he survived.

The second account is that of Victor Frankl. He received his Masters in Psychology in 1928, and was very observant of people’s behavior in the concentration camps. He misdiagnosed patients to save them from being exterminated. Along with this, he was taken to a concentration camp, had a near death experience with typhoid fever, and questioned whether life was worth living at times. His explanation for survival was hope. He hoped that his family, including his wife, was still alive. This, he argued, for many was why he survived.

The third account is that of the therapist’s in book II. He listens to Art speak about his father’s explanation of survival and discounts it saying that it was random who survived and who did not. This made me question the explanations of Vladek and Frankl. It is true that one can survive by being clever and also through the motivation of hope, but death was mostly out of their control at some point. What am I to think?

A Family Affair

Book II of Maus brings attention to the problem that children with aging parents must all face- who will take care of them? After Mala leaves Vladek, it is up to Art and Francoise to look after him. To their surprise, Vladek expects them to stay with him through the summer. Art makes it obvious several times in book II that he will not take his father in or stay with him indefinitely.

I believe that Art is unwilling to look after his father because of their tense relationship. If Vladek lives with Art, he will surely drive Art crazy. On the other hand, Art demonstrates his guilt towards abandoning his sick father in his conversations with his wife, Francoise. He realizes that he has an obligation to take care of his father, but has much anxiety about it.

In our society it is very unheard of for adult children to live with their parents. I think the reason for this is similar to Art’s reason for not wanting to take care of his father. Inevitably, there are going to be differing opinions and ways of doing things that will come up in a multi-generational family.  

This thought came to me when I got new neighbors a few years ago. The first generation was from Bangladesh, the second generation was from New York, and the third generation was born in Wisconsin. I often wondered how it would work for grandchildren to live with their parents and their grandparents together. I still have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, we as Americans value our independence on a very personal level. Living with more authority figures would impede this feeling of independence. However, a little more family support and involvement would certainly benefit a person. Not to mention, the house would be run more efficiently with more people living there.

Speigelman's Tragedy

One thing about Art Speigelman’s ‘Maus’ that has gotten my attention is the personal story of his mother’s suicide. Upon reading the section of Maus book 1 where Speigelman voices his feelings of guilt and frustration about the suicide, I realized that Art was deeply affected by the suicide. He apparently feels that he neglected his mother and her emotional needs. As a result, he feels depressed and imprisoned by the guilt. I found it fascinating that this section of the graphic novel was not illustrated with the use of mice. It almost seems like Speigelman was trying to emphasize that this was a personal tragedy aside from the Holocaust tale that his father tells.

Lisa Naomi Mulman addresses this theme in her article in ‘The Jewish Graphic Novel’. I agree with her statement that Art is troubled by the fact that he is unaware of his mother’s account of the tale. I think that Art is disappointed in himself that he had not spent more time with his mother. He clearly shows his frustration at the end of book 1, when he discovers that his father burned his mother’s diaries. To Art, the memories of his mother are seemingly lost forever.

 It is certainly easy to understand how Anna could feel depressed after enduring the tragedies of losing most of her family to the Holocaust. It is unfortunate that after surviving all of that Anna got so depressed that she felt she can’t go on, and committed suicide. This is definitely a thought provoking theme in the story.

Speigelman's Personal Account

So this is the first time that I have read Art Speigelman’s ‘Maus’ and I am quite impressed with it. The use of animals is a creative new idea for a graphic novel. It also does a decent job of portraying the events of the Holocaust. However, I find the personal narrative to be especially interesting. Speigelman’s perspective as the son of a Holocaust survivor gives the reader a new outlook on the event.

I noticed that there are big differences between Art and his father, Vladek. I assume this is mostly due to the cultural differences in their upbringings. Vladek was born and raised in Europe, and Art was born and raised in America. I’m also guessing that the Holocaust had much to do with the way that Vladek acts. He seems a little more cynical and complains a lot, while Art is more care-free and positive.

 I also noticed that there are some issues with the family. I feel that Vladek does not give enough attention to his son, Art, and his new wife, Mala. This is no doubt a result of his past and his first wife’s suicide. I am not sure at this point why she killed herself, but I suppose it will not be covered in the novel as it is a very personal matter to Speigelman.

As mentioned, I find the personal aspect of this narrative to be quite interesting. I especially like that it is from the perspective of a Holocaust survivor’s son. The account of the life of Vladek makes it easier to understand the events in the story and how they shaped his life.   

The Marvel Age of Comic Books

In the 1960’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created many successful comic book characters such as the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, and the X Men. This period of success was appropriately called the Marvel Age of comic books. The comics of the 60s were definitely based around the events of the decade such as the space race and the civil rights movement, and this is clearly shown through such characters as the Fantastic Four and the Black Panther. These events certainly made more interesting characters that more people could relate to. However, I believe that the real reason for Marvel’s success in the 60s was the development of its characters.

Before the 60s superheroes were pretty much just men in suits fighting crime. The characters were missing an important element-personality. Perhaps the closest hero to having personality was Batman who was very troubled by his parents’ death, and felt guilt for not being able to do anything about it. In the 60s, Marvel’s Lee and Kirby came up with dozens of characters who were fully developed in personality. Whether it is the Thing feeling down about being a monster or Johnny Storm showing off his flame tricks, the Fantastic Four had personality.

Most notably of Marvel’s characters is Spiderman. A teenage kid with superpowers, he feels compelled to fight crime after the guilt of not stopping his uncle’s killer. Aside from this, Peter Parker is a typical boy with problems in school and relationships. I believe Spiderman’s success was due to readers being able to relate well to Parker.

The X Men are similar to Spiderman in that people can relate to them. They are the perfect metaphor for any minority group that may feel like an outsider in the American society. Of course, the characters of the X Men later develop quite unique personalities, such as Professor Xavier and Magneto. This gives a more realistic explanation for why the two are enemies. Indeed, it is often hard to tell whether Magneto is the ‘bad guy’ once we learn his background.

I believe the development of superhero personality by Marvel’s Lee and Kirby in the 60s was the biggest contribution to their success in comic books. Along with character development, the duo reflected the events of the time in their storylines. Readers of the comics of the Marvel Age are definitely able to relate well to the superhero characters.