Maus 2- first half

One of the things that I found most interesting in the book was the masks. In our discussion we talked about what the different animal masks represent and how the cat/mouse thing was chosen to symbolize the relationship between those two animals. However, I do not think we fully answered why you could tell they were wearing masks in the second half of reading and not the first. I was also wondering if there was a reason that Art said he didn't want to be a bunny in the beginning. A bunny symbolizes a similar relationship to a cat as a mouse does but Art makes it clear that he doesn't want to bunny. There are also some mice that are black instead of white. Is this for organizational purposes or for some other reason?

Congo Articles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11108589

The problems mentioned in this article that are currently happening in the Congo are caused by similar events that happened when Leopold was ruling the Congo. Genocide in neighboring Rwanda has caused many people to flee to the Congo. They have also started to attack Congolese and steal their resources. This turned into a war between Rwanda and the Congo which led to the death of over 5 million.

The Congo has been taken advantage of multiple times and because of this, they can not try to make a system of their own. The article says that the east of the Congo is still unstable and I would like to know how exactly is not stable.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11480809

This article talks about a rebel leader who might be involved in mass rapes. Between 300 and 500 people have been said to have been raped within two months. Homes and businesses have also been broken into and stolen from. Doctors have gone to the Congo to try and help out rape victims, and the UK has tried to arrest the culprits.

Who is responsible for theses rapes (the rebel leader can't being responsible for all of them)? Why is this happening, is there a motive for the rapes?