Review- Maus

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maus depicts the author interviewing his father, Vladek, about his experience of surviving the rise of the Nazis, and the holocaust. This makes the graphic novel a mix of styles- partly autobiographical, and partly fictionalized, with the story switching between the present day, where Vladek has migrated to the USA, and Vladek's experiences during the second world war.

The different nationalities within the story are drawn as different animals, with the Jews as mice, the Germans as cats, and Polish people as pigs. Depicting people as animals is a risky proposition (Nazi propaganda often used animal imagery), but it works here. A recurring image throughout the story is wailing mice with their heads tipped back and their mouth wide open. The artwork throughout the book is stark, black and white, with thick outlines predominating, adding to the taut style. The character of the author frets about his decision to fictionalize the story, creating a layer of irony.

Vladek is the central focus of the book. He survives through being very resourceful- during the period of Nazi persecution, and during his time in concentration camps, he is adept at identifying business opportunities that will keep him alive, first by trading his valuables, then whatever resources are available, such as clothes and cigarettes. Vladek observes queues in concentration camps, and works out the best place to wait to receive soup containing vegetables. However, in the modern day, he has become miserly and mean spirited, refusing to spend money on necessities, which damages his relationship with his family.

Vladek's first wife, Anja, survived the Nazi era with him, only to later commit suicide. He later marries Mala, who he constantly belittles for not living up to Anja's memory, and accuses of being motivated by trying to get his money. The character of Art Spiegelman worries that Vladek comes across as being an anti-Semitic stereotype, obsessed with business and money. The interactions between Vladek and his family are often very funny in the frustrations that his meanness cause, but are tinged with sadness too. Vladek seems to view his relationships in a cynical and transactional way- he feels that he needs to save money and food because no one would risk their life for nothing (i.e. he is taking precautions in case another holocaust occurrs). He speak about mass killings matter-of-factly. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to have learnt any overall moral lessons from his experiences, as demonstrated by his crude racism towards a black man, who he thinks might steal his groceries. The story is ambiguous about the extent to which Vladek's character was formed by his experiences, or whether his negative characteristics were always present.

The strand of the story set during the holocaust is dense, with a lot of history covered in a short period of time, including the increasing persecution of the Jews, the culpability of non-Germans in the events, and the role played by the 'Kapos' or prison guards, who were sometimes Jewish, misusing the power they were granted before often being murdered themselves. The book is not intended as a general history, but is horribly effective in depicting the insane cruelty that antisemitism led to, including a particularly horribly scene where German soldiers kill injured children by swinging them into a wall.

I strongly recommend this book. The artwork adds something significant to the subject matter, and the writing is rich and multi-layered, the characters depicted strongly, with their complexity depicted subtly and in few words.



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