Maus vs generic Holocaust stories

For the past few weeks, we read Art Spiegelman's Maus, and I really enjoyed the comic book. It allowed me to take a short break from reading pages and pages of just plain text and showed me the versatility of literature. Honestly, at the beginning of the book, I did not have a high expectation for this book because I have been told way too many Holocaust stories that sound shocking but feel really distant. Those are the stories that sound good the first few times then they get really repetitive and boring. However, as I kept on reading, I got into the book more because I discovered that this Holocaust story is nothing like the generic ones that I have read before. 

First, I think that the storyline of Maus has more variety than the other Holocaust stories. While the other Holocaust stories focus on the violent war or the terrible concentration camps and the suffering, Maus shifts some focus away from the violent aspect and more to the daily lives of the people caught in the war. This helps prevent that same Holocaust storyline from reoccurring here in Maus and makes the book more interesting. For example, many Holocaust stories start off with a battle scene or dead body being dragged through the gas chamber, but Maus starts with a scene with Vladek and Art after the war. The scene serves as a hook and also foreshadows the Holocaust story later in the book. Another advantage that Maus has is that Spiegelman incorporates the present into the story. There are many places in the book where the present seems to blur into the past. Some examples would be the bicycle wheel in the first few pages, Vladek taking turns and suddenly goes back to the camps, etc. This helps to bring the Holocaust closer to the readers and make them really feel the horror of the war. Many other Holocaust stories just keep their focus on the past which gives more specific facts about the war but does not allow the readers to actually get closer to history. 

All Holocaust stories want people to remember the violent history and prevent those tragic events from happening again. Most of the Holocaust stories are way too factual and boring to read and are usually forced upon the readers by teachers, parents, or society. This results in the resentfulness of the Holocaust and leads to the opposite of the stories' purpose. Maus, on the other hand, takes a different approach by adding more symbols and using the form of comics. This refreshes the memories of the Holocaust and evokes a greater emotional shock in the readers' minds.