Maus: A Reader's Tale

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History written by Art Spiegelman, published by Pantheon Books on August 12, 1986 approx. 159 ps.

Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began written by Art Spiegelman, published by Pantheon Books on September 1, 1992 approx. 144 ps.


I think it would be incredibly difficult to generate some form of work about the Holocaust simply for the fact that the general public assumes that they know all that they need to about the matter. They have been informed of these events almost entirely through what was deemed appropriate in junior high textbooks from the fine editors at McGraw-Hill.

Now, calling the Holocaust an "event" is a vast understatement. It is not merely an event. It is in fact one of the most horrifying examples of human nature ever to be displayed. But perhaps even that is an opinion that limits the scope of the Holocaust as subject matter. A blanket statement such as that, while very accurate, denies the notion that the Holocaust was not just a moment in history, but an actual experience that actual people endured.

Art Spiegelman's Maus is one such work that aims to tell the story of his father Vladek with the Holocaust as a backdrop as opposed to the crucial story element. Granted, the Holocaust shapes the story as it is being recounted, in the end, it is a story about a man. Or in this case, a mouse.

Spiegelman tells the story in 2 narratives. The frame narrative is that of Art visiting his father to record the story of his life in the concentration camps in order to write the memoir you are reading. The other narrative is from Vladek's point of view and his direct experiences in Poland and Germany. While these two perspectives seemingly blend into one another, there is no mistaking the distinction in tone between the two. Art views his father in a very subjective way. He finds faults in Vladek's frugality and stubbornness and, at times, seems to even disdain the man his father has become. While this may sound like a harsh judgement on Art's part, a lot of it stems from his inability to impress his father. As far as Art sees it, "nothing can make him happy." Along with that, part of Art's narrative deals with the mental stress from writing and collecting his father's story.

On the other end of it, readers are given a glimpse into Hitler's Germany and the lengths that both of Art's parents go to in order to escape and reunite. It is through these sequences that readers get to know Vladek and how he became who he is. Where Art's portrayal is that of a senile old man, the readers get to see the clever and resourceful man he was. Whether it was utilizing his experience in different occupations to avoid the gas chambers, or trading food for clean clothes to survive the conditions, Vladek had an answer for almost everything. While much of his experiences had to do with luck, his quick wit kept him alive on multiple occasions.

In Steven Wu's review of the book, he mentions the inability of the text to do anything "beyond merely representing the raw historical material" and how small of a reaction Vladek's experiences elicited. I can't disagree more with this opinion. I feel that the representation of Vladek is the one thing that separates this graphic novel from an encyclopedic recounting of the times. His story gives the readers something personal to attach themselves to when reading the story. Statistics go a long way to express the extent of the Nazi's actions, but does little to accentuate individual stories. Personal experiences can only be found in firsthand sources such as these and this is one of the most redeeming qualities of the book.

The graphic novel gets its namesake from the way the characters are portrayed. The Jews are mice, the Germans: cats, Polish: pigs, Americans: dogs, and so on and so forth. While somewhat inconsistent (Anja is terrified of rats? The Germans (cats) have dogs (not Americans though?), I think this portrayal works well. Going into reading this novel, I assumed the animals would take on a manner similar to Orwell's Animal Farm. That is, operate as animals (albeit talking animals) in an ultimately human world. Instead, the characters represent their nationalities through their depictions as animals rather than just being different looking humans.

At first, I was a bit upset that they were not more like the animals on Manor Farm. In my quick reaction, I couldn't quite identify why this portrayal would be needed if the characters were essentially human anyway. While I'm not entirely sure how the other countries fit in, I do, however, find the cat-mouse dynamic a very important piece in telling the story. As mentioned earlier, the Holocaust is more of a backdrop to this story and the motivation behind the events that occurred are not really touched upon. In a sense, the dispute between the Germans and the Jews seems as natural as the dispute between cats and mice. Throw in the Americans (dogs) for good measure, and you essentially get the food chain that shows just how much the Jews mattered during this time period.

A representation such as this would only be possible through Art's chosen medium: the graphic novel. This choice alone demands a great deal of praise considering the widely held opinion of comics as 'low art.' For Spiegelman to bring such a weighty topic and profound memoir to this art form is nothing short of impressive. If this style puts off any potential readers, you can definitely put those apprehensions behind you.

There is little 'comic' in this comic. The art style is appropriately sketchy and foreboding which, for me, help to convey the atmosphere of the times. Similar to Schindler's List, the chosen color scheme is black and white. Maus even avoids the obligatory 'girl in red' to alert its viewers that there is imagery afoot. Instead, Art uses clever images within his own drawings (hidden swastikas, animal masks for disguises) that would make even the most articulate novelist blush. I think this is a great example of how to really utilize a graphic novel to tell a story.

This book should be applauded for its ability to transport its reader both historically and emotionally. By placing the reader's focus on a specific person's story during this treacherous time, one can get a sense of both the overall scope, and the individual struggle. The Holocaust brings about all sorts of evocative images when even mentioned and Spiegelman continues that trend within his graphic novel. But rather than hammer in just how terrible it was, Spiegelman delivers a narrative that has as much heart, as it does horror.

Matty Sung is an English Education major at San Francisco State University. This is his first review.