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Maus - Quote

It was difficult to find "substantial quotes" in the story of Maus because it is a graphic novel and there are not long quotes, but I found one that struck me in the context of the story. On page 56, several of the mice have been taken to a prison and are in despair of the conditions. They are treated terribly, even compared to the other prisoners, and they want nothing more than to get out. There is a sign that appears asking for workers for labor assignments, and the artist's father, the main character of the story, argues with his cellmates about volunteering. His quote is "I'm not going to die and I won't die here! I want to be treated like a human being!"
The quote is startling for several reasons. First, in the context of the situation, in the middle of the Holocaust where so many human beings were not treated humanely, there is this expression of outrage at being mistreated. I think that, after a time, such a desire is taken away - especially for those in the concentration camps who are merely grateful to be alive. This is also expressed in the beginning of the quote, as the character's insistence that he is going to survive. Later in the book, all of the characters take on a dark humor that belies their despair at making it out alive. Vladek, the father, views everything with a fatalistic sense of humor. He survived several ghettos, prisons, and Auschwitz, and after that it appears that his innocent desire for life falls to the side. The only thing that kept him alive for years was the love of his wife - and after that, the love of his son.

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