Research Paper on "Maus I And II by Art Spiegelman"

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Maus

English

Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Summary:

My Father Bleeds History & and Then My Troubles Began

The Novel

Because of its comic book form, Art Spiegelman's Maus I and II had the challenge of having the world take seriously the story of a troubled father and son as well as the devastation of the Holocaust. The comic book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, which illustrates that Maus did, in fact, meet the challenge. Even though it won the Pulitzer Prize, the question still exists as to whether or not Maus is a useful way to study the Holocaust. Because the medium through which Spiegelman brings us the Holocaust is a graphic novel, he has another challenge not only with being taken seriously, but he has the challenge of not exploiting the event in a medium that thrives on exploitation. Young notes that there have been many eyebrows raised concerning Maus and questions regarding "the adequacy of ironic and experimental responses to the Holocaust, insofar as…their transgressiveness undercuts any and all meaning" (666). Doherty also claims that when Spiegelman received a special award from the Pulitzer Prize committee, the committee decided to "finesse the issues of genre" as the "members were apparently befuddled by a project whose merit they could not deny but whose medium they could not quite categorize" (69).

The first book of Maus, My Father Bleeds History, opens in 1978 as Art Spiegelman arrives in Rego Park to have dinner with his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor. The relationship between Art and Vladek is obviously strained and we learn that Art's mother, Anja, killed

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herself in 1968. Vladek is remarried to a woman named Mala who is also a survivor, though the marriage is an unhappy one and Vladek seems to think she's going to steal all his money. After dinner, Artie tells Vladek that he wants to create a book about his father's experiences during the Holocaust. Vladek begins by telling Artie how he met Anja, how they got married and how after their first child, Richieu, Anja became depressed and had to go to a sanitarium.

Anja and Vladek are forced into a ghetto and then they go into hiding. They try to leave Poland for Hungary in 1944, but they are captured at the border and sent to Auschwitz where they are separated. Hope keeps them alive so that they can find each other again. Vladek also recounts Artie's birth in Sweden and the family's move to the U.S. when Artie was three. Artie dedicates the story to the brother he never knew, Richieu, who died during the Holocaust.

In Maus's second book, and Here My Troubles Began, there is quite a lot of jumping back and forth in history. The story begins with Artie getting news from Mala that Vladek has had a heart attack. Artie and his wife Francoise get in the car and head for the Catskills where Vladek is. In the car with Francoise we learn about Artie's immense feelings of guilt about his trouble-free childhood. He feels bad that he didn't have to endure the Holocaust like his parents and "ghost" brother. He calls Richieu this because he remembers that the dead boy's photo used to hang on the wall and he thought, as a child, that he could never compare with the perfect brother. He also states that he used to think that if he had to choose one parent to go to Auschwitz he would have chosen his mother. He feels guilty about this too.

The next morning at Vladek's bungalow, Vladek tells Artie and Francoise about Mala. They had a fight at the bank over money and she ended up going to Florida. He believes she's going to try to get the deposit back for the condo they were going to buy there.

On a walk, Vladek tells Artie more of the story about arriving at Auschwitz and what happened to him there. Vladek learns that Abraham was responsible for Anja and his capture. Mandelbaum is there with him; they sleep together in a tiny bed. Vladek begins to teach the Kapo English and because of this the Kapo allows Vladek to help himself to some clothes, which he gives to Mandelbaum. Mandelbaum is taken by the Germans to work and Vladek never sees him again. Vladek is kept safe by the Kapo for a couple of months but is then sent to work.

Artie and Vladek keep walking until they reach some kind of private hotel. Vladek tells Artie that they have to be very careful so that the guard does not see them. The two sneak past the guard and sit down to play a game of bingo.

In the last scene of Maus, a dying Vladek addresses Artie as Richieu, Artie's dead brother, his father's dead son. What is clear is that the unassimilated trauma of his first son's death is still incredibly profound.

2. Personal Response

I am really glad that I got the chance to read Maus. My first impression of Vladek Spiegelman was not a very positive one. I found him rude and offensive, but as he begins to tell his story, I started to feel for him and I also began to understand who he was before the Holocaust and how the Holocaust changed him as a person. The Holocaust has not made him who he is, but it has definitely shaped his life experience after it was said and done.

The relationship between Vladek and Artie was obviously quite strained. We know that Vladek hasn't been the most affectionate father in the world and, because of that, his relationship with Artie has suffered. When Artie is ten-years-old and he falls and breaks his roller skates, his father does not comfort him, rather, Vladek compares it to the Holocaust. I thought this was both funny and sad at the same time. Vladek comes across as a bit of a drama queen, but at the same time, it was absolutely true: Artie had no idea what his father had been through. It shows that the memories of the Holocaust are never far out of Vladek's mind.

As the story progressed, it became quite obvious that though Vladek was the one initially carrying all of the trauma of the past memories, he had passed on some of those wounds to his son. Because of Vladek's past, he was torturing his son as well. He was stuck in the past. Artie, as well, becomes obsessed with the Holocaust. Most of these feelings, however, comes from the fact that he cannot get over the guilt that he feels. He feels guilty that he has not had to suffer like they had.

I do think that Maus I & II should be included in a graphic novel class because, for one, because it takes a very serious time in history and, specifically, one man's life during it, and tells the story in a form in which it had not been told before (just as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis did). While the Holocaust is obviously an important element in the graphic novel, it is, first and foremost, a novel, a story of one man's relationship with his father, and this is what makes it important. It is not that Vladek's experiences are so out of the ordinary; after reading a lot about the Holocaust and learning about it in school, we know the atrocities that took place. It is the journey of Artie and Vladek as son and father that is so interesting in this novel and I think that the story deserves to be told and I think that the graphic novel form serves it well.

The reason that the graphic novel is such a good form for Art to express himself is because the form allows him to distance himself away from the material a bit. Using his art, he can distance himself from the painful feelings related to his father and his upbringing. I think that it is quite interesting that Art chose to tell this story through his drawings; he did not have to tell it in this way. To me, its says that he wanted that distance, he needed the distance in order to truly gain access and express all the feelings he had about his father.

3. Literary Criticism

In Thomas Doherty's 1996 article entitled, "Art Spiegelman's Maus: Graphic Art and the Holocaust," Doherty discusses the Spiegelman's "Special Award" for Maus, which was given to him in 1992. The members of the Pulitzer Prize committee were confused by "a project whose merit they could not deny but whose medium they could not quite categorize" (69). The confusion seemed obvious: wasn't the Holocaust biography ill-suited for a comic book? Especially when we live in "an age when ever-larger tomes and even denser scholarship define that enterprise" (69). Editorial cartooning wouldn't have been adequate either since Maus illustrated the news of the past as opposed to news of the day (69).… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Maus I And II by Art Spiegelman" Assignment:

“

Write a 1100 - 1750 word paper that includes the following components:

1.Â a brief summary of the plot (250-350 words)

2.Â your personal response to the text (250-350 words)

3.Â a summary of 2 articles of literary criticism of the work in particular and/or graphic novel history/background that pertains to the text in some way (250-350 words for each article)

4.Â your opinion as to whether the work should or should not be included in a graphic novels class and why/why not (250-350 words)

Since I have asked for your personal response and opinion, you may use 1st person in this paper (but no *****"you*****"), but in other respects it must follow conventions of formal academic writing.Â It should be in MLA format with a heading, header, title, use literary present tense, include MLA parenthetical citations, an MLA works cited page, and appropriately academic language.Â See MLA Paper Format and Citation Guidelines for help.Â

My Personal Responses:

Discussion Week 4:

First off, let me say that the book is something that I am very interested in reading more about. I first heard of the Holocaust when I was a freshman in high school. My teachers were very surprised that I did not know anything about this. My teacher, Miss Aleman, was very instrumental to my learning of this subject, even though it was not something that was being covered in class that year.

My initial impression of Vladek Spiegelman is that he is a very unhappy and hard man. The Holocaust has made him a very hard man to understand and live with. He is very critical and rude at times, but he has good side, even if it is not seen as much after the Holocaust. As he tells his story from before the Holocaust you get an insight into the person he used to be.

As with everything, the lives we have live and the decisions we have made are what determines the people we have become. Vladek*****'s life story is very hard to hear, but it necessary for him and for his son. As Vladek is telling his story he is going back to the time when everything started, good and bad. It think it is good for him in a way that he can pass on what has happen to him, so people will know even if they might never understand.

The relationship between Vladek and Artie is very strained. It is very hard for Vladek to show affection and understand because he is afraid to feel anything. Artie is very hurt by his father*****s lack of affection, but I think in a way he is starting to understand. Artie is trying to write this book because I think he wants to know what his father has went through and maybe he can get insight into why their relationship is the way it is. I think Artie is trying to find some middle ground where he can get along with his father because like all children they all want their parents love and affection.

Discussion Week 5:

I think the source of the tension is the Holocaust and their lack of understanding between them. For Art, he tries to understand what his father went through and accept the person he has become. In a way, Art has, but he does not know how to deal with his father. He lets all his father*****s *****habits***** bother him, when they shouldn*****t. He knows his father is a survivor of the Holocaust and in a way he sees that as a problem. For Vladek, the Holocaust is a burden he carries with him every day. He does not understand that it is also a burden his son, Art, carries. Vladek tends to be a very selfish person because he chooses not to understand his son. Vladek makes everything they do and discuss about him. From what I read so far, Vladek never even asks his son anything about his life. The only reference I have seen that Vladek actually pays attention to his son is when he mentions that his son will be famous someday like *****Walt Disney***** (Maus I, 133). Art is so surprise by this he goes to get a pencil so he can write it down before he can forget. Imagine how his son has to write it down because he father finally said something encouraging to his son. You can tell a lot from this action. Vladek would have seen this if he paid close attention to what his son*****s actions and feelings. They both let their problems rule their lives because they do not know how to fix it. B y the ending of the first book, I think they are on their way to resolve some problems they have with each other. In way, Art might have resolves some problems by writing these novels. I think it was a way for him to resolve his feelings.

Discussion Week 6:

The way the novel ended gave me a mixture of feelings. At one point I am so sad that Vladek

died, but at the same time I feel a sense of rightness that he was able to go the way he did. The last thing Vladek recalled before he passed away was his reuniting with Anja: *****We were both very happy and lived happy, happy ever after***** (Spiegelman, 136). In reference to their tombstone, I think it was great that Spiegelman was able to reunite his parents after death together in a great way even if it was very sad.

I do get a sense of closure for Vladek, but not for Artie. You can still feel his guilt, frustration, and anger even at the end. He even admitted his own guilt: *****I feel guilt enough already!***** (Spiegelman, 120). Which I think was a start toward dealing with his issues. I do not think he found closure, but did find a way to deal with his feelings toward his family.

I feel no closure or catharsis at the end of the story, but I do think I was not meant to. This was a telling of history not a work of fiction and because of that I do not think we are supposed to feel closure. I am very sad, frustrated, and angry that something like this could go on for so long and that our government did not know about it, but I think that they did even if they did not want to admit to it. I am shock by this, but I feel that it was written for us to feel whatever we need to feel by this. Spiegelman even said that he did not write this for us to understand. *****I wasn*****t trying to convince anybody of anything***** (Spiegelman, 42). He wrote it more for himself as a way to deal with his issues. Everyone is going to feel and take from this story anything they need to because it was meant for that.

*****

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