Maus

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Maus was a very wonderful and unique read. I love the way the main story, Vladek’s Story, was framed with Artie’s little visits. It was a very personal book. Vladek does not jump right into the story of the nazi oppression he first tells the story of his young life, of finding love, of the good times. Everything being told is significant to him. It’s also adorable that Vladek told his son not to mention such “private things” in his story. This also gives us a contrast to the rest of the novel.

            I am fond of the portrayal of Vladek because he reminds me of my own father. My father wasn’t in Auschwitz of course but he does do a lot of cycling. When you get older and your joints weaken walking gets harder. My dad started cycling a lot because it was an exercise that didn’t hurt his joints. I can only assume this is why we see Vladek cycling so much, and cycling as he tells his stories. Vladek also seems proud of his strength. It would only make sense that he continues exercising even in his old age. Vladek’s speech pattern’s is also a clear part of his personality. “It was so treasuring for me this package.” I loved that I could hear the Polish accent in my head as I read this.

            I also like that Spiegelman didn’t portray the characters as humans. Polish were pigs, Germans were cats, and the Jews were mice. For a brief moment in the sanitarium we saw even more animals such as rabbits, moose, and frogs. Cats and mice have a very clear relationship that was similar to the Nazis and the Jews. Mice are also seen as pests, much like how the Nazis saw the Jews. I also like that when the he was portraying his father pretending to be a pole he portrayed him as a mouse wearing a pig mask. By using anthropomorphic characters Spiegelman has made the meaning stronger. This is part of the visuals but it really adds to the story.

            The story is filled with heartbreaking moments. Everything you’d expect from a holocaust survivor. It was interesting to see how the characters dealt with the tragedies. When Vladek’s son dies he reacts in just a small panel but when Lolek decides to face the ovens there is an entire page dedicated to this tragedy. I thought about why his nephew death got a page while his son got a panel. It was because of Anja. Comforting his wife was what made the moment so memorable. She was a wreck but he wasn’t going to let her give up.

            Spiegelman clearly can’t stop thinking of his own mother as he interacts with his father. He wants her story. He also filled with guilt since his mother’s suicide. We see this in his comic Prisoner on the Hell Planet. He is a prisoner of guilt. He always asking his father for his mother’s diaries so he have the story of both his parents. When Spiegelman learns that his father burned the diaries he loses it. Especially when he hears that the stories were intended to be read by him. Spiegelman his furious that he doesn't have his mother’s story to tell. As a reader I am also sad that I don’t have her story to read. In a way the writer and the reader mourn the loss of a story. I also thought it was extremely clever the way Spiegelman ended the first Maus by calling his father a murderer. He also ended Prisoner on the Hell Planet by calling his mother a murderer. It is a wonderful connection between the two moments in time. It’s incorrect to say Maus is just about the Holocaust. It’s about the Spiegalman family.