Introduction
“They Called Us Enemy,” co-written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott and drawn by Harmony Becker, is a crucial tribute to the dread and federal bigotry within America’s borders eight decades ago. Meanwhile, Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” depicts the horrors of the Holocaust as well as the challenges of understanding and relating to a parent who lived through it. Readers may interact with past and contemporary difficulties because of Spiegelman’s flowing framework.
As President Clinton noted in 1996, “Rarely has a nation been so well-served by a people it has so ill-treated,” highlighting the struggles of Japanese Americans and Jewish people during WWII and the dehumanization, racism, and mistreatment of human populations during wartime. This paper will examine how these two graphic novels employ visual storytelling to portray wartime trauma and why the writers chose the graphic novel genre to address these problems.
Childhood Trauma Theory in the Graphic Novel Medium
Trauma theory posits that individuals who experience traumatic events are haunted by the memories associated with them. As trauma theorist Cathy Caruth explains, “To be traumatized is precisely to be possessed by an image or event” (Caruth, Trauma: Explorations in Memory 4.-5). In other words, the traumatic event can vary from person to person and encompass anything from war and rape to child abuse and apartheid (Adami 6).
In “They Called Us Enemy,” George Takei’s memories of his time in internment camps function outside of time, haunting him into adulthood as if the event is being experienced repeatedly, similar to Kurt Vonnegut’s description in “Slaughterhouse 5” that “Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time.” “They Called Us Enemy” and “Maus” utilize jumps between times as the protagonists attempt to reflect on and relate to their past experiences through blurred memories. By depicting horrific situations in this manner, graphic novels highlight the impact of catastrophic events on memory and how difficult it is to recall the past authentically.
Illustration of the Severity and Bleakness of War with Colors
The black and white palettes in “They Called Us Enemy” and “Maus” contradict George Takei’s claim that childhood memories are full of colors, scents, and noises. Nonetheless, the black-and-white pattern expresses the idea of memory and the difficulties of precisely defining the past successfully. The primary visual design helps the reader to focus on the characters and tale without being distracted by dazzling artwork, underlining how recollections of tragic events are frequently fragmentary and difficult to convey fully.
The dark shading in both graphic novels depicts fear, particularly the uncertainty of the future, such as in the entire dark panel (Takei 27), where the characters travel to unknown internment campsites. The gray shading, on the other hand, represents foreboding and eeriness, as seen in the arrest (Takei 73), the guards (Takei 88), the arrest of radicals (Takei 135), and the lost boy in a crowd (Takei 143). Light shading, which symbolizes new beginnings, is shown in the newborn of the Takei family (Takei 13). Furthermore, the black-and-white design portrays the fight between good vs. evil and justice versus wrong.
Childhood Memories vs. the Reality of America
Changes in illustration style are crucial in “Maus” and “They Called Us Enemy” because they contribute to establishing a sense of timelessness, highlight the themes of memory and pain, and give a layer of metaphor and symbolism to the tale. Takei writes, “Memory is a wily keeper of the past/usually dependable, but at times deceptive. Childhood memories are especially slippery. Sweet and so full of joy, they can often be a misrendering of the truth” (Takei 50-51).
“They Called Us Enemy” alternates between anime-style pictures that depict a child’s innocent and pure perspective and realistic illustrations that convey the terrible and violent realities that Takei eventually comes to grips with. The shifts in drawing techniques assist in emphasizing the themes of memory and trauma, providing a sense of timelessness that helps the reader better appreciate the author’s experiences following wartime trauma. The art style also helps to capture the struggles and small joys of a fragmented childhood, as one source notes, “The art is simple, but very effective, capturing the struggles and bright small joys of a fragmented childhood” (“They Called Us Enemy Cartoon Art Museum”).
Another notable creative choice in “Maus” is using animal avatars to represent various groups of humans. Using mice to symbolize Jews, for example, highlights this group’s helplessness and impotence. Using cats to represent Nazis, on the other hand, strengthens the perception that they are predatory and deadly. This approach adds a layer of metaphor and symbolism to the tale, underlining the themes of racial hierarchy and the Holocaust’s dehumanization of Jews.
Conclusion
The graphic novels “They Called Us Enemy” and “Maus” address the pain and tragedies of war via the medium of the graphic novel. Their utilization of childhood trauma theory, a monochrome black-and-white palette, and art style alterations give their stories more weight. Both books investigate the problem of injustice and how governments may justify the abuse of citizens during times of conflict.
George Takei notes, “Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators… but they don’t carry it the way the victims do” (Takei). This phrase refers to disadvantaged people’s experiences during warfare and how humiliation is conveyed in both graphic novels. Through visual storytelling, Takei and Spiegelman have produced a poignant monument to the pain of war and how it can haunt individuals and communities for decades.
Works Cited
“Cultures of War in Graphic Novels: Violence, Trauma, and Memory.” JSTOR. 2018. Web.
“Childhood Trauma in the Graphic Memoir.” n.d. Web.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, 1986.
Takei, George, et al. They Called Us Enemy. Top Shelf Productions, 2019.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel. Dial Press Trade Paperback, 1999.
Wilson, Emily. “Cartooning the Japanese Internment, Through George Takei’s Eyes.” 48 Hills. 2020. Web.