Common Day Nazis

     Throughout the novel Maus, Spiegelman uses different animals to represent the different races and ethnicities of the characters in his book. He also shows some of the animals wearing masks, representing the varying appearances between the ethnicities. But, this also shows that underneath they are all the same. The use of masks serves to prove that a person's exterior is just that, a mask. The poem, "Please hear what I'm not saying," by Charles C. Finn addresses this topic really well.

 "Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask, a thousand masks, 
Masks that I'm afraid to take off 
And none of them is me."

Finn is trying to explain that his exterior is not who he truly is; but rather a mask he puts on for the sake of others. Throughout the poem he explains that he is not at all who he appears to be. This really made me think about and analyze the different masks I wear throughout the course of a single day. Think about it. Most people act differently with their friends at lunch than they would with their boss at work. But who is to say which one is real? Each day we put on a series of different masks to try to fit in with the people around us. To try to be the person they want us to be. Although, high school is obviously different than the holocaust, it serves as a good comparison to daily life. In Auschwitz, if you had Jewish characteristics you were punished. In high school, people are judged based on appearances too. Lots of  people are  commonly considered outcasts because they don't look like the "normal" high school student. In essence, they are being discriminated against because they defy the social standard for normal. Most people think that the Holocaust was devastating and unfair. Hitler discriminated against the Jews because they were different. But isn't that what we do each day, make snap judgments based on appearances? Whether it's one person or a complete ethnicity, judging a person by the 'mask' they wear is wrong. In a society that is continuously growing and becoming more diverse, acceptance of others is critical.

Click here: http://www.jwjonline.net/poems/poem/mask/: to read the rest of the poem, "Please hear what I'm not saying."