MAUS
BY ART SPIEGELMAN
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
 Born 15 February 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden
 American cartoonist and comics advocate based in
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NYC
Published Maus in two parts, 1986 and 1991
Maus won the Pulitzer Prize
“In the Shadow of No Towers” was his graphic novel
about September 11th
Appeared in a 2007 episode of The Simpsons as
himself
Maus
 Completed in 1991
 Depicts Art Spiegelman interviewing his father, Vladek,
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about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust
survivor
Uses different animals to portray a variety of races
Much of the story revolves around Spiegelman’s troubled
relationship with his father
Inner-story – Vladek’s experiences during the Holocaust
in the 1930s and 1940s
Outer-story – Art interviewing and interacting with
Vladek throughout the 1970s and early 1980s
Comic Form
 Most of Maus has traditional comic book movement
(horizontal). The panels read from left to right across a
page and then go down (Page 11 is an example of that)
 Occasionally though, Spiegelman uses non-traditional
arrangements of panels that move from outer to inner,
top to bottom, etc
 Page 61 is an example of this
 While reading, make sure to track similarity of
composition, repetition of objects/characters, relative
size of panels, presence/absence of frames, etc
Comic Form
Comic Form
 Comic format manipulates reading speed in a way
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that books struggle to
Complex visuals force readers to slow down
Panels that are very “busy” tend to be extremely
important
Take your time and slow down when the artist is
giving you clues that you really need to be paying
attention
Seeing what the artist sees
Fractured Narrative/Unreliable
 The inner and outer story is very, very important.
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You need to learn to recognize who is speaking and
when
Spiegelman will move back and forth between the
two timelines
Must track visual clues to stay aware of when/where
we are
Unreliable Narrator
Vladek forgets things, acts differently in the two
different timelines, etc
Visual Metaphors
 Any visual symbol or picture that is used to represent
something else. Visual Metaphors are often used in
political cartoons.
Characters
 Maus I
 Jewish people are represented by mice.
 The Germans are represented by cats.
 The Americans are represented by dogs.
 Polish people are represented by pigs.
 Maus II
 The Roma (Gypsies) are represented as gypsy moths.
 The British are represented by fish.
 The child of a Jew and a German is shown as a
mouse with cat stripes.
Characters
 What do you think is the significance of using these
different animals to represent the different groups?
 Why do you think Spiegelman used animals for
symbols rather than drawing humans?
Characters
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Characters
Characters
Controversy
 "[A Polish press attaché] said, 'Do you realize that
it is a terrible insult to call a Pole a pig? It's worse
than it even sounds in English. Do you realize that
the Germans called us schwein [pigs]?'
Art’s Response
 So I said, 'Yeah, and the Germans called us
vermin. These aren't my metaphors. These
are Hitler's.' And that gave us common
ground. I pointed out that, in the book, there
are Jews who act admirably-but there are
many Jews in the book who don't. These are
just people wearing masks. And the same is
true of the Poles. There are some Poles who
saved my parents' lives and who were very
kind, and there were some who were swine."
"The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are
not human.” –Hitler
 This quote is written on the copyright
page of Maus, why do you think the
author placed it there?
Big Ideas to Watch Out For
 Anja as a non-character. Vladek’s first wife/Art’s mother.
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She is a “glaring void” throughout Maus. A black hole of a character.
She’s there…but not really. Draws our attention, but we never really
see/know her.
 Contrast between Old/Young Vladeks. Why the
difference?
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Vladek is unreliable as a narrator
Vladek is changed by the Holocaust
Vladek has aged ungracefully
 Conflicting Loyalties – Characters are often forced to
choose between their own survival and those near to
them
Big Ideas to Watch Out For
 Use of English –
 Vladek is the only person who speaks with an accent in the
outer story. Even the other Holocaust survivors speak
“Normal” English
 In inner story, Vladek’s knowledge of English often helps him
survive
 Memory –
 Much like Night, Maus is a book about memory and the
importance of memorializing the Holocaust