In the novel Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston and in the novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, the theme of suffering has an effect harmful to the human mind. In these two stories, suffering takes different forms: emotional, physical and mental. Whatever the form, she always suffers. Dietary depravity is a method that people use to affect the human mind in a negative way. In the story Maus by Art Spiegelman, food is used to weaken the prisoners. For example, at the concentration camp, Art's father speaks to his fellow inmate Mandelbaum: “I spilled most of my soup too. When I asked for more, they beat me" (Spiegelman p. 29). This affects the human mind because when people usually ask for more food, they are not beaten. Food is also used as currency in the camps. In this scene, Art's father is talking to the Gestapo and the Gestapo wants Vladek to fix his boot; the next day! I had the boot ready for this gestapo... Hmm. He left the boot and left without a word and came back with a whole sausage” (Spiegelman p. 61). art of repairing boots and his reward for his good work was a whole sausage. This shows how valuable food is in the concentration camps. In the story of Farewell to Manzanar, food is also used to destroy the. human spirit Jeanne, the author, is fed by the camp staff and her meal was "...canned Viennese sausage balls, canned green beans, rice steamed too long and over the rice A . portion of canned apricots. Caucasian waiters thought...... middle of paper ......pg. 23).This scene shows a survival vibe as they all try to do their best to stay warm. In these camps, guards did not provide people with a source of heating. Mood is an effective tool to express the suffering that occurred in both stories. Suffering is a very real aspect in the story of Maus and Farewell to Manzanar. Suffering has devastating effects on a person's mind and well-being. Suffering did not only appear during World War II; it’s still a shocking reality happening today. Today, people all over the world are still suffering, whether physical, emotional or mental; he still suffers. Works Cited Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki. and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000. Print.Spiegelman, Art. Maus: the story of a survivor. New York: Panthéon, 1986. N. pag. Print.