While reading Maus, I felt as if I was experiencing a wholly new literary genre-- when I started, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and the ending left me reeling. A work of brilliance, of gritty reality combined with symbols that are simple enough to understand and yet are piercing and profound. Maus holds its own in the worlds of serious literature and comic books-- If a book could be viewed as "exile", this one certainly would be. It is easy to scan and read, and at the same time it is deeply personal, complicated, and revealing. Human nature-- its potential for evil, its idiosyncrasies, its goodness-- is studied in detail in Spiegelman's work, and the irony lies in the fact that the human condition is presented through 'comical' mouse figures.

Inviting Exile

Interestingly enough, what was most compelling about Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic depiction of his father’s story of the Holocaust, was not his and his father’s, but rather, that of his then fiancé’s, Francois’ exile.
Hers is a self-imposed exile. She was born a “Frog,” a relatively benign creature in the world, for they hail from France. Though she converted for Art’s father’s, Vladek’s approval, she actively sought, and succeeded to convert to a way of life and culture that has been, and in some places in the world, is still being discriminated against for how they worship their deity. I mean, who is to say who the next "Cat" might be?
Francois introduced herself to the possibility of being a member of arguably the most persecuted people in history for the prospect of love and marriage to Art Spiegelman.

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To respond to Amy S:
I think that there is a stereotype that the French eat frogs, this might be why they are depicted as frogs.
And as for the Swedes, they might be reindeer because reindeer don't pose a threat to other creatures, because they are vegetarians. But they are threatened by meat eaters like humans who hunt them. Actually in history, Sweden remained neutral throughout the War, but were being intimidated by both Allied and Axis powers for their resources and strategic position between England and Germany.

Maus

I have never been a fan of comics…let alone 200+ pages of the same one. Nevertheless the construction of this book was quite fascinating. More specifically is the story’s ability to convey to readers such a heavy topic in non-threatening manner. Spiegelman’s Maus deals with the exile of the Jewish community on a large scale, however the text also deals with several threads of exile on a personal level. Such as exile or isolation among each other. The fact that there are Jewish soldiers working with the Germans. And the way in which there was no loyalty between each other. for example a fellow Jewish person acting as an informant to the German officials, and even Art's relationship with his father, However I will focus on one example. In Maus I, the fist form of personal exile readers’ come across is the character Mala. Mala seems to experience a form of personal exile in her home with her husband in the way he speaks to her and regarding her. The first indication we get about their relationship is when the narrator mentions “they did not get along” (p 11). Another example is after she cooks dinner, Art thanks her but her husband response by saying “ …the chicken I thought was, too dry” (p 44) then he leaves the room asking his son to accompany him in the living room, leaving Mala alone. Throughout the text we see other examples of the couple not getting along, but we don’t really know why. Finally, towards the end of the book Art’s father explains his reasoning for his actions and Mala tells Art about the way it makes her feel. Art’s father explains that he does not understand why he remarried and the Mala only wants his money (p 127). Later Mala tells art that she’s “at her wits’ end”… He treats me as if I were just a maid or his nurse…worse! At least a maid had some days off and gets paid…He’s cheap!” (p 130). It’s obvious she and Mr. Spiegelman do not have a close relationship, they have a distance between them. I imagine her feeling exile and cast out from her own home, her own husband.
I think all these examples tie in with the prologue scene when “Artie” is crying because he had fallen while skating and his friends ran away leaving him. After explaining to his farther what had taken place he his father answers him saying “friends? your friends?…if you lock them together in a room with no food for a week… then you could see what it is, friends” (p 5-6).

Art Spiegelman's MAUS: A Breath of Fresh Air.

After reading Maus by Art Spiegelman, I have to say that this style of writing his father's account of their lifestory, and their struggles with the Nazis is like a breath of fresh air. I was really intrigued by the comic book style in which he executed his family history, and by far this is the best, if not the most creative technique in which I have ever came across. It appeals to the readers, because it has a familiar feel to it, and the bonus is that it addresses serious matters, such as escaping the wrenching claws of Hitler, the importance of money, and the most mind blowing of all, that of exile. Just by reading the first couple pages, you realize the importance money played in this society, when his father said,"Her family was nice, but had no money, even for a dowry" (p.15). This shows us that being financially stable in this society was a huge factor, not only for a comfortable living standard, but even when it came to marriage and choosing a life pathner. What happened to love, shouldn't love be the deciding factor? Another interesting theme that goes hand in hand with money/finances would be that of social status. From reading the the first page, when Artie went to visit his father and stepmother, she hung his coat on a wire hanger, and his father made such a huge deal about putting his coat on a wooden hanger. In my opinion, this symbolized their social standing in society, and showed what luxuries they could have afforded at this time. By including these little details, for example, his mom encounter with suicide, dowry in exchange for a marriage agreement, Artie having a stepmom all these side details made the novel more real, and made its readers connect to it more easily. Aside from discussing the struggles of being rich and having it all taken away, and being forced to live in intolerable quarters imposed by the Nazis, there are other aspects in this novel that stands out, and makes it shine. Having said all that, I must say that by including this text in the syllabus, it was a wise decision and it had a huge impact on my outlook, it really made me think out of the box.

Maus...

Wow, so I was so shocked when I sat down to read the first page of the book and I realize that it was in a comic book format! As I continued reading, I started to wonder why Spiegelman decided to do write the book this way and what message he was trying to send to the reader. I was intrigued by his use of animals to depict the different characters in the book because the roles make sense. I'm still a little confused about using frogs to represent the French and reideer to represent the Swedish. Maybe it didn't have any real importance.

Maus Parts I and II

Throughout the graphic novel Maus, we see many different forms of exile. We get to explore mostly the exile of the Jews during World War II through the eyes of Artie's father. His father goes through the exile from his home, country, and humanity. It is no coincidence that Artie draws them all as different animals, when the Jews are treated below human from the Germans (represented as Cats which chase mice). This is to show Vladek's constant struggle in which he says he feels less human. Because of this struggle in World War II, Vladek becomes very "unconventional" with how he lives, always saving the most ridiculous things because he didn't have them or was scarce during the War.
Besides Vladek's struggle Artie has his own struggle, throughout the graphic novel multiple times we see Artie's struggle with his own father, feeling inadequate in comparison to Vladek's first son... (who could have been a lawyer or doctor) while Artie is just a struggling Artist. Artie also constantly mentions how his father embarrasses him, because of Vladek's "unconventional" way of keeping every little thing. Further more in part II Artie says he has a problem with being unable to know fully the struggle that happened during World War II for his father, and feels guilty for not fully understanding the struggle. Artie's exile is the exile he feels from not being fully understanding of his father as well as not being fully understood by his father.

Art Spieglman as an Exile

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

Maus Exiled From Home

“Maus” Exiled From Home

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel “Maus” describes War II and what happened between the Nazi’s and the Jews during the time. Due to the comic book style of the novel it is like you are actually listening to a Holocaust survivor describe his tail of survival and hope. Using his own father’s story, Spiegelman shows the reader, step by step, how his father, Vladek and mother, Anja struggled to survive in Nazi Germany.

Vladek and Anja are exiles in their own country, forced out of their homes and into ghetto’s where they can be with others “their kind”. Not only were they exiled from their country but they were exiled from being viewed as a human. They were no longer equals, they were Jews. Their identity was marked with a pin of the Star of David and all had to wear this symbol or they would be killed. Spiegelman shows the reader this labeling system by drawing them in on all of his Mice. This is one of the advantages he has with writing in this graphic novel style, he can show something as well as write it for the reader to get a clearer picture of what really happened.

A unique, insightful, and inspiring tale of exile

Having completed Volume I of Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale, I must say that this was one of the most enriching works I've read in a while. Spiegelman offers a completely unique approach with the comic strip format. The symbolism provided by the design of the central characters (mice, cats, pigs, etc.) is fascinating. What I enjoyed most about Spiegelman's account of his father's story is the pure human emotion that is involved. Vladek's story gives insight not only towards what he had to deal with being a Jew during WWII -- he had to deal with the same issues of relationships, friendships, family, etc. that people do today. Even in his old age Vladek is a complex character with many issues -- his inability to truly cope with Anja's tragedy, his misguided remarriage towards Mala, his seeming inability to come to terms with his old age, and the sometimes strained relationship he has with his own son. As his story unfolds, one must wonder exactly what kind of effect his prior experiences during WWII have had on the rest of his life.



I really like how Spiegelman includes just enough present interaction so we are not merely presented with a typical account of what happened. Art's subtle interpretations of his father's story add another dimension to this already rich story.



The "cat and mouse" element of A Survivor's Tale is intriguing. Vladek and Anja are somehow able to continously evade capture at the hands of the Nazis. They witness and find about close friends, relatives, even their own parents and their child get captured, and must still struggle for survival. The sheer fear that they must have endured is astonishing. When they are finally brought to Auschwitz, I began to get curious. It will be interesting to see how things play out in Volume II, as danger is imminent.

Cartoons and Exile?

In the book A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman one is radically taken away from all the conventional and customary memoir books of the holocaust; Spiegelman's cats, mice and pigs are able to effectively recreate a horrendous time in history that was full of struggle, difficulty, solitude, and physical and emotional exile for all the innocent people that had to go through it.
At the same time, Spiegelman's tale presents and depicts a different type of exile, an exile that is lived by those who fortunately did not have to go through the traumatizing experience of the holocaust but do have families who did, and can not seem to relate to the long time effects of such devastating and shameful time in history.
Perhaps the most outstanding part of the book is the parallel between trying to write, draw and illustrate a striking historical time and relating it to his family, and his already deteriorated relationship with his dad. As the author gets, deeper into the story he clearly gives out his change of feelings and reduces his distance and obvious exile between him and his dad. However, he is never able to fully destroy the bar between him and his dad, between him and his family's history.

Compelling Story of Maus

I have read several stories about the Halocaust, but none as compelling as Art Spiegelman's story of Maus. The fact that the story is in a comic form, gave me a picture at every point that he was talking about. He went from living a luxiourous life, owning his own factory to just trying to survive by hiding jewlery in baby's carriage. Life was very for Spiegelman in that he sometimes did not have money to buy food. His family was forced to live in two small rooms.

While reading the story I was amazed at his survival tricks by selling goods to get money for food. The fact that he went from something to nothing in almost an instant. The cruelty of the Germans and how they made the Jews work for them. Spiegelman recalls this story as if it happened yesterday, maybe because the life that he went through was unforgetable.

When you read about the Haulocaust, you never get a good reaction from the story, its mostly violence after more violence. In Spiegelman's story, you can't help but feel sympathy for this man, that he had to bare witness to this, I know I did. At the same time its amazing that he survive this and is able to give his experience of life in Poland during the 1940s.