The Impact of Politics and its Presence in literature.
The impact of politics is widespread and undoubtedly plays a role in all lives. Politics has been a constant theme in human lives since the dawn of time as leaders, groups, thinkers all jostle for positions of power to have others follow in-suite. Whether it be with good or bad intentions, there have always those willing to fight for leadership. Those that have the same ideas as you are allies and those opposed are seen as the enemies. These days politics seem more divisive than ever and it can feel almost impossible to escape from, but the theme of politics finding its way into media has been present for a long time and is especially clear in literature.

Maus by Art Spiegelman
This effect of politics is no clearer than in the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman. The novel depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his life story as a holocaust survivor who now resides in the United States The novel was published serially between 1980 and 1991 and was the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Spiegelman uses metaphors to portray the Jews as mice who are preyed upon by the Germans, cats, who are ultimately defeated (in part) by the Americans who are sketched as dogs.
The novel starts off with Spiegelman (Artie) as a ten-year-old skating with his friends before falling off and getting left behind, Artie runs, sobbing to his father who is building something in the front of the house. Artie explains what happened to him which prompts his father to say:” FRIENDS? Your friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week then you could see what it is, Friends!” At first, this standalone page at the start of the book seemed all but insignificant until I had gone back over it after finishing the novel. This statement by Artie’s father was a clear indicator of the lack of trust that had been caused by the war as well as a seemingly lasting impact.

Vladek (Artie’s father) is betrayed by many throughout the Second World War which brings out the worst in the nicest of people causing him to have major trust issues which were apparent when Artie visited his father to hear about his stories from the war. During the interviews with Artie, Vladek is remarried to a lady named Mala. V ladek has clear trust issues with Mala as they would be constantly bickering and arguing throughout the novel with Vladek often stating that he is scared she will run off with his money and jewelry, a lack of trust that was not in his personality until after the war. We can see that the political instability that leads to the Second World War had a major effect on Vladek’s relationship with not only Mala but others too.
Spiegelman switches the narrative between him interviewing his father and his father recounting his tales from his past. This method of storytelling was sometimes chaotic and hard to follow but also produces some major insights into Artie’s relationship with his father. It is explained at the start of the novel that Artie does not visit his father often although he lives close-by, these visits start to become a regularity as Artie writes his novel. The relationship between these two is quite complex as Artie despises certain traits of his father such as his unwillingness to spend money as well as his aggressiveness but also feels guilty to have lived a life nowhere near as much pain as his father. Artie expresses throughout the novel that he himself feels affected by the Holocaust although he did not live through it, this is due to the fact that Vladek’s experiences from the Holocaust and War are a large part of his personality.
The role of politics in Vladek’s and Artie’s lives is clear as day but is more nuanced in the character of Anja Spiegelman. Anja is the father of Artie and the ex-wife of Vladek. Anja and Vladek met before the war and later married in 1937, Anja would soon have her first child Richieu, who die in the war. After her first child, Anja would show signs of post-natal depression and was taken to a mental health facility to recover but would never truly recover as she takes her own life in 1968. Throughout Vladek’s recollection, she is shown to be anxious and always second-guessing Vladek’s choices throughout the holocaust and is especially unwilling to send away Richieu to his uncle Persis during the war, nonetheless, Vladek convinces Anja that it is for the best and decide to ship him off. News later comes back that Richieu’s new hometown of Zawiercie is occupied by the Germans and his aunt Tosha poisons her family and Richieu to avoid going to the gas chambers. Anja is devasted by this news and carries this guilt with her well after the war, this sense of survivor’s guilt is common with holocaust survivors who had many loved ones that were not able to escape.

Artie’s last memory of his mother is presented in a comic called “Prisoner on the planet Hell” Anja enters his room and asks him if he still loves her to which Artie dismissively answers “Sure.” This last interaction with his mother causes a lifetime of guilt for Artie.
Art Spiegelman does an excellent job of conveying the story of his father’s experience during the holocaust while also shining a light on its effect on himself and his family.
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm written by George Orwell was published in 1945. The novella is an allegory of the Russian revolution and the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell wrote the book from 1943 to 1944 when his home country of England was in allegiance with the Soviet Union causing media publications and the general public to hold Stalin in high regard, this angered Orwell. One of the major themes in the book is the government and its ability to control the general public.
The story starts out in the barnyard where Old Major, a highly regarded pig, calls a meeting among the animals to discuss a dream that he had. Major believes that a rebellion whether it be in his lifetime or not should be arranged for the animals to take back authority from man. Major comes up with a short song called ‘Beasts of England’ to serve as propaganda similar to that of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This first chapter is important as it establishes the roots for the new form of government that the farm is to adhere to (Animalism) as well as creating a hierarchy of animals. The pigs are at the top who are the smartest out of all species, the laboring horses in the middle and all other animals at the bottom. This, of course, was used as a metaphor for the Nobility at the top, the working class and the poverty-stricken at the bottom.
Old major soon passes away after his speech but his influence seems to have stuck with the animals as they regularly meet to organize an uprising with the pigs spearheading the process, we are then introduced to three pigs ; Napoleon: a cunning and strategic leader, Snowball : an idealistic favorite with the animals and Squealer : the persuasive voice of the revolution. Orwell

uses Napoleon as a metaphor for Joseph Stalin, like Stalin, Napoleon uses force to control the other animals and to eliminate any threats to his power. One example of Napoleon’s totalitarianism is his conflict with Snowball. Napoleon and Snowball were the leaders of the animal’s revolt against Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, and were instrumental in the fight against the farmers to take over the farm but were in disagreement on what should be done next. Snowball believed that the animals should a windmill while Napoleon thought the animals should amass weapons. This clash of ideas leads to Napoleon unleashing a group of dogs on Snowball who chase him out of Animal Farm, never to be seen again. Squealer then announces to the rest of the animals that Snowball was a traitor who was colluding with the humans all along. Squealer is often used by Napoleon to convince the animals with his gift of speech which is another parallel to the real world. History shows that the masses have always gravitated to politicians who are great public speakers whether it be Adolf Hitler or Martin Luther King Jr.
As the story progresses the ideals of the original rules of animalism seem to be bent by the pigs as they start to reap the rewards of the works of the farm claiming that milk and apples be eaten by the pigs to sustain their mental capacity. This is epitomized at the end of the book when the most fundamental rule of animalism:” All animals are equal” is changed to “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. This rule that somewhat contradicts itself shows that Stalinism seems to be a utopian concept but in reality, leads to the same oppression of the working class that the animals were trying to avoid in the first place.

Animal Farm’s last chapter is symbolic as it cuts to the future where many of the original animals’ part of the rebellion have passed away and all of the younger animals have been brought up without questioning the pig’s rule. The farm on the outside seems to be more productive but the living conditions for the other animals have gotten worse. The pigs unveil that they can now walk on two legs just like humans and the book ends with all animals watching the pigs host a party for the farmers unable to tell the pigs apart from the farmers. Orwell uses this final chapter to showcase the hypocrisy of the pigs who contradict all of the original rules of animalism. Orwell uses the pigs to compare them to the Soviet Union whose ideals also advocate for equality but end up leaving those at the top with the majority of the wealth.
Chasing the Valley by Skye Melki-Wegner

Chasing the Valley is a dystopian fantasy novel published in 2013 by Melbourne Author Skye Melki-Wegner. The story starts out in the town of Rourton that resides in the kingdom of Taladia. We are introduced to the main character, Danika Glynn who has been living as an orphan for the past seven years after her family was killed by a series of bombings. The king of Taladia is a tyrannical leader who subdues his subjects by periodically bombing towns and cities. This type of military dictatorship is reminiscent of Mussolini and his pro-war stance and present-day dictators such as Xi Jinping and Bashar al-Assad who are more than willing to display violence against their citizens.

The news comes in that another round of alchemy bombs are set to hit Rourton so Taladia decides to hide in the sewers of the city. While hiding she comes across a group of teenagers who plan to escape Taladia in search of ‘The Magnetic Valley’. The Magnetic Valley is a far-off land where the king’s alchemy bombs are rendered useless. Danika proves her usefulness to the group and sets of this treacherous escape. This journey to discover a better off land parallels that of a modern-day refugee. Just like Danika and the group, refugees try and flee their home countries which are often ravaged with war and poverty in order to find a safer land where they live out the rest of their lives. This idea of wanting to escape an unfair government is another example of the theme of politics and prevalence in literature.
The influence of politics is present in all three of the books mentioned whether it be its effect on a family many years after the holocaust, an allegorical tale designed to criticize a certain type of government or a nuanced parallel to real-life political issues. It is no surprise that such a major part of human life is able to find a way into our literature.
