Maus by Art Spiegelman

The year is 1978. Art Spiegelman, with the goal of writing a comic documenting his father Vladek’s past, returns to his father’s home for a long conversation revealing the many stories from Vladek’s dark and complicated experiences in the midst of Nazi invasion. His voice brings them both back to 1939, where he articulates a detailed memoir of his life as a Jew in Poland, and when it all fell apart.

Maus is very unique story for many reasons, but what presents itself most clearly to the reader right away is that it’s not a standard novel; it’s a comic book. Each page is filled to the brim with cartoonish drawings full of anthropomorphic people rather than eloquent paragraphs. It doesn’t rely on complicated vocabulary to get its messages across, with images and dialogue giving more than enough of a clear picture of the story. Even with this seemingly basic medium, it presents its characters and story in a way that manages to feel mature and dark, fitting of the horrifying events of the book. 

Maus also runs a frame narrative, juxtaposing the dialogue between Art and Vladek with the events of Vladek’s past. This gives the story more direction, with Art’s conversation guiding the flow of Vladek’s stories. In addition, it shows Art’s reactions to connections between Vladek’s past and his own life as he learns more about how he came to be. In this way, Maus presents yet another story, this one showing the growth of the relationship between a father and son.

The most interesting aspect of Maus to me was that the whole story actually happened. Besides the aesthetic of characters portrayed as animals, the events of the narrative took place in the real world. The story of Art wanting to draw a comic book of his father is Art’s interpretation of his past self, but in comic book form. I hope that makes a bit of sense. In other words, Art creates a meta-narrative, writing about himself writing the book. Vladek’s endeavors were all stories Art heard from the man himself, and highlight how tragic of an event the Holocaust really was. The pure realism of the book mixed with a comic-book style present a feeling I’ve yet to find in any other book.

Maus truly is an amazing book. I was really surprised by how a graphic novel could convey complex emotions, especially considering the minimal usage of words. It’s a book that’s easy to read and enjoy, but difficult to fully comprehend. Art weaves together his and his father’s countless experiences into an intricate story full of hidden meanings, metaphors, and the ambiguity of real life.

-Andrew

Comments

  1. NickNovember 8, 2019 at 1:46 PM

    This is a well-rounded review! I have been interested in reading Maus, but I've never gotten around to actually reading it, however your review has sparked my interest again and I might check it out soon. I liked how in-depth this review was, I can tell you put a lot of effort into dissecting the plot and writing a detailed analysis of the literary tools used in the book. Your opinion was concise and easy to understand without having read the book which is good for a book recommendation.

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