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Erin Mannix Eng 112 12 Apr 2015 Maus: A Deeper Look Into its Historical Meaning Written by Art Spiegelman in 1991, the comic Maus gives an extremely detailed account of Vladek Spiegelman’s experiences living in Nazi occupied Poland in World War 2. Maus is a story that condemns the horrors of the Holocaust while simultaneously showing how the sadistic plan impairs the lives of those who lived it many years later. While reading the graphic novel, Art Spieglman portrays his father, Vladek, both from his recollections of his years during the war and with his present day reactions to everyday life. From Art’s perspective we see an unfolding account of the Holocaust while also seeing the damage that years of war, hiding, and severe survival tactics has on an elderly man. Art’s comic formatting allows the novel to be a quick read while also providing a complex commentary on how each of the characters interacted; for example, characters are portrayed as animals symbolizing their status with Germans being cats, Jews being mice, and Poles being pigs. While reading the graphic novel Art is completely present in the writing to the point where he directly draws about what went on to get the information for the story, making the novel seem evermore real. Since this book is a work of nonfiction, we are given a true hands-on account of what life was like during this time. There are

many references to Auschwitz and ghettos, which add to its validity. From a historical perspective, we see how the basis of this comic, the Holocaust, unfolds into a story full of brutality and adventure. The Jews were treated as animals, no pun intended, and were confined to live in the most horrid Mannix 2 of conditions. With that being said, some of the remaining survivors today, still face the daily struggles of coping with what they experienced. It is not uncommon for victims to have flashbacks or exhibit some form of posttraumatic stress disorder (KOLAR). Spiegelman talks about how all of the Jewish citizens both in and out of the concentration camps were punished and persecuted for trying to live normal lives. These punishments were often worse for those who tried to help others who were not so fortunate. One of these examples was starting on page 84*, when a Jewish man who often sold goods without coupons was hung for a week in the town center with a few others for doing the same thing. Page 84 is quite visual and it includes a dark panel denoting self-reflection and fear. The imagery is graphic and the hanging heads of the mice make this page very dramatic and it sets the dark tone for the rest of the chapter. Elaborating more on how this affects the Spielgelman family, they were absolutely astonished by this event, because without this man's good deeds, they would have had a much harder time surviving on so little food.

Researching this event, it was not uncommon all over Nazi-controlled towns for deaths like this to occur. While the Jewish man in Maus was hung, there were multiple accounts of Nazis taking Jews and beating them to death in crowds, entering shops and shooting at random, or even stepping on human heads while on the pavement (Life). As if that was not bad enough, often the friends and family members of these victims had to clean up the mess made or suffer similar punishment (Life). Relating that back to survivors coping, when having to deal with such traumatic events, most are unable to forget the horrors they witnessed and Mannix 3 experienced. They carry with them the weight and even pass it on to their children. “Art’s story confirms the assertion that generations which have never been exposed to a traumatic event can ‘inherit’ the trauma of their ancestors and that the most common channel of this intergenerational and trans generational transmission is through the family,” (KOLAR). Although Art never experienced the Holocaust himself, he shows a certain resistance to his identification with Vladek’s experience, and though he sometimes appears to lack empathy towards Vladek’s suffering, there is no doubt that this trauma affected him too.

Another historical context that this graphic novel highlights is how Vladek survived neither because of luck, nor skill but rather a combination of the two. Because of these two things, he was able to withstand and endure the torturous experiences he Mannix 4 faced; however, they were not without consequence. Throughout his life he lost people very dear to him and witnessed events that no one should have to witness. Both of these contributed to his detestable relationships and frugalness later on in his life. Prior to the war, Vladek was a skilled businessman and he had many connections that would either prove to help or potentially hurt him. He came from a rich family on his wife Anja’s side and that gave him many valuables that he was

able to later trade; however, neither of these positive traits allowed her father to live, who was also a millionaire. Spieglman writes, "he was a millionaire, but even this didn't save his life," (Maus p. 115*). This is important to note, because it goes to show how wealth still was not able to help over come the anti-Semitic ideals of the Nazi rule. Even though his wife had money, the Nazis were more concerned with their singular focus of the mass genocide of the Jewish population. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they ordered anti-Jewish economic boycotts, staged book burnings, and enacted discriminatory anti-Jewish legislation. The Nuremberg Laws racially defined Jews by “blood” and ordered the total separation of so-called "Aryans" and "non-Aryans,” thereby legalizing a racist hierarchy (Antisemitism). His fortunes proved to be no match for Hitler’s hatred. However, Vladek’s desire to push forward and save his family is a very common trend or theme that occurs throughout many stories of the Holocaust. It is not hard to see the Jewish peoples determination in trying to stay alive and their extreme devotion to saving and protecting their families. Unlike his father in law, Vladek was more Mannix 5 concerned with the welfare of his family rather than what was going to happen with his money or valuables.

To help make the Holocaust easier to understand, Speigelman casts the Germans as cats, the Jews as mice, and the Poles as pigs. Using the cat and mouse metaphor, Speigelman manages to symbolize the Jews status with the Germans and show how they were often, in a way, prey. These help stereotype the social groups, which make this novel unique and compelling (Considering). Spiegelman, in an interview states, “… [Eternal Jew] portrayed Jews in a ghetto swarming in tight quarters, bearded caftaned creatures, and then a cut to Jews as mice—or rather rats—swarming in a sewer, with a title card that said “Jews are the rats” or the “vermin of mankind.” This made it clear to me that this dehumanization was at the very heart of the killing project.” (Why Mice?) He, similarly to many other books about Jews, cast them as mice; however, he did so in Mannix 6

a way that helped the reader understand their status, rather than for demoralization. Throughout the book, the mice are rarely seen with their mouths open. Spiegelman states, “When I show the mouths, they’re almost always there as cries and screams. It’s not usually used to show characters yukking it up and laughing really loud. It’s that triangle inverted as you look at it from underneath with a kind of scream face. It allows for a kind of vulnerability, coming in toward the underbelly of the mouse. The screaming mouth completes the face; it’s a way of making that face human.” (Why Mice?) Thanks to this little visual aspect, we see his deliberateness when creating his comics. Everything he did had some sort of meaning behind it, and he was effective at shining light on the subject matter. Spiegelman's approach to the Holocaust, in comics form and with animal imagery, “transforms the historical context into an artistic/fictional representation, thus, making the history easier to understand for a broader audience” (Hye Su). In regards to the visual aspects, Maus is rather simple and extremely text based. The pages are done in black and white, with a variety of different sized panels. This adds to the seriousness of the comic and makes it seem dismal. The art itself, looks like scribbles and is childish; however, it is effective at portraying his stance on the whole ordeal. Towards the middle, the comic includes another comic

within itself about his mother committing suicide, and instead of using animal figures, it uses actual photos

Mannix 7 and human forms. This was a nice change of “scenery”, and it put into perspective how animals in a way, view humans. This excerpt also goes into more detail about how he felt when this event happened. He only briefly touched on that in the rest of the book and it interesting to see his reactions to things, instead of his fathers. Spiegelman manages to incorporate and interchange both words and images so that he can collect his thoughts on his father’s stories and show how the project shaped him even as he shaped it (Hathaway). Overall, Maus is a good representation of the Holocaust but it is also about the story of the Speigelman family, whose image is reflected through this historical representation. Its emphasis on history and extreme attention to detail on how history affects individuals is a theme that should not be overlooked. The text is a historical document based on testimony and facts, but it is also “an autobiographical creation of the author, who artistically projects himself onto one of the narrators”, Artie, in the text (Hye Su). While Maus is Art's retell of his father's life during the Holocaust, the many pauses between the historical aspects of the novel mixed with Art's retelling of the process

show how the Holocaust shaped both Vladek and Art's life into one of that aims to struggle. It seems as though having survived the camps, Vladek still lives as though any day he will need the same strategies he used then by saving everything and being extremely frugal, which affects all of his relationships. The novel includes many examples of how the Holocaust has affected its victims, and how they are dealing with these struggles later on in their lives. The graphic novel captures the story quite Mannix 8 profoundly and makes for a very emotional read. *Pictures taken from Maus pages 84 and 115.

Mannix 9 Works Cited "Antisemitism." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 20 June 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. "Considering Maus: Approaches To Art Spiegelman's 'Survivor's Tale' Of The Holocaust." Holocaust And Genocide Studies 19.3 (2005): 549551. Index to Jewish Periodicals. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. Hathaway, Rosemary V. "Reading Art Spiegelman's Maus As Postmodern Ethnography." Journal Of Folklore Research 48.3 (2011): 249-267. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. Hye Su, Park. "Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale: A Bibliography Essay." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies 29.2 (2011): 146-164. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. KOLÁŘ, STANISLAV. "Intergenerational Transmission Of Trauma In Spiegelman's Maus." Brno Studies In English 39.1 (2013): 227241. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. M. W., P. "Life In A Nazi Concentration Camp." Jewish Book World 32.3 (2014): 111. Jewish Studies Source. Web. "Why Mice? by Art Spiegelman." Why Mice? by Art Spiegelman. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.