Maus: A Survivor's Tale

1274 Words6 Pages
The Holocaust is one of the most gruesome events of the twentieth century, if not the entirety of human history. Concentration camps killed millions of Jews under the direction of Adolph Hitler. Art Spiegelman’s poignant novel- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale- reflects the story of his parents, told by his father, surviving the Holocaust. Spiegelman tells his father’s story not only through his father’s diction but also with tragic pictures. Spiegelman catches the reader with the use of literary elements of symbolism and metaphor as well as his art throughout the novel. With the help of his father, Vladek Spiegelman, Art Spiegelman is given insight into the lives of his father and his mother as they struggled to survive during World War II, how they…show more content…
“Gee. I’m surprised that Vladek read this when he found it. He never reads comics…” “He doesn’t even look at my work when I stick it under his nose,” Art says (Spiegelman, 106). When Artie and Vladek speak about the comics that Artie has created about Vladek’s life they end up reminiscing about Arties mother, Anja. Vladek says “… The things you asked me last time. Hoo! I saw the picture there of mom, so I read it… and I cried”, Artie replies, “I-I’m sorry” (Spiegelman, 106). This conversation between Artie and Vladek is important in the novel because this is the first time that Vladek has seen the work that Artie has secretly been doing. Artie has drawn images of his father and his mother based on his father's stories and when Vladek sees the pictures that Artie has drawn he says “I saw the picture there of mom, so I read it… and I cried” (Spiegelman, 106). The artwork in the comics that Artie has created speaks to Vladek and makes him remember the life he had, and the memories of Anja, “But for me it brought in my mind so much memories of Anja” (Spiegelman,…show more content…
Art uses animals instead of human beings to play the roles of each character and this changes a lot throughout the novel because Art adds clothes and masks to the animals. The clothes and the masks that the animals wear do not always represent their own characteristics, as we saw when Anja, mouse, tried to wear a pig mask (Spiegelman, 140). Art draws out his father's life based on the details in the stories his father tells him, he listens closely to make sure he does not miss
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    school, we talk about it in passing, we briefly recall it, but no one really gives much thought or really much care into what happened post-Holocaust. One can not really blame anyone for this reality, but there should be more consideration. “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” by Art Spiegelman is one of the few literary works ever to bring to attention the truth behind what it is like to survive the Holocaust. His graphic novel flips back and forth from his father, Vladek Spiegelman, during the Holocaust and in

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