It may not be obvious through reading Maus, but in his own way Art is an exile as well. He opens the first frame of chapter 1 with the caption "I went out to see my Father in Rego Park. I hadn't seen him in a long time - we weren't that close." Spieglman's attempt to capture the story of his father before it disappears forever with his passing is as much, if not more, for himself than for those who will read it. It is quite common for the children of survivors to have difficulty relating to their parents. What survivors went through during the Holocaust is inexplicable. It is inevitable that no child could ever understand what their parent has gone through. However, as an adult Spieglman is able to at least approach an understanding of the extreme level of suffering. He is adamant that his father keep the story as chronological as possible so that there is as little explanation required as possible. His father's story is almost entirely straight from the horses mouth and is that much more powerful because of that. We know from Spieglman's comments that he and his father do not understand one another and that their is a contextual divide between their life perspectives. How could he feel at home with his parents with such an unimaginable experience between them? How could his parents have ever felt that he truly understood?
-- Ian Herman
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The idea of being an exile is certainly a state of mind and not just a physical state. In the graphic novel Maus the author certainly feels this bodily form of exile. It was the author's father Vladek who was part of history's most disturbing acts of violence and discrimination and several generations later the effects of that traumatic event are felt by the children of the parents who lived it. Art's father clearly has many quirks because of his experiences but these idiosyncrasies have effected his son greatly. He grew up a depressed man who was never able to connect with his parents because the pain of the Holocaust always haunted them. To have a mother commit suicide because of the memories that taunted her and to never understand his living father who taunts his son over futile matters all add to this feeling of mental exile for Art.Exile we find is hereditary and flows in Art's blood. Coming from parents who were always on the move and experienced the most brutal form of exile it seems inevitable that these emotions would be passed down to Art. It seems our definition of exile since the beginning of the term continues to expand. It has quickly become more than just a physical state but transformed into a complete mental entrapment, in this case, Art who on the surface leads a normal life but the experiences of his parents will forever place his mind in a state of exile
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