Guilt In Art Spiegelman's Maus

Art Spiegelman’s Maus is also a method of coming to terms with the past and overcoming inherited guilt in the hopes starting again with a clean slate. It is suspected that Vladek feels guilt about surviving the Holocaust while so many died, including his first born son, Richieu. Often times he and other people were faced with the decision to help others or ensure their safety when faced with suffering. There are times when Vladek seems to doubt his decisions as they may have hurt someone, but he justifies them by stating how it was these decisions that allowed him to survive. Morality and ethics are altered in Maus. The implications of this question whether or not humanity is inherently good, especially when Art must deal with the inherited …show more content…
Spiegelman struggles with finding out if it possible to understand he Holocaust without experiencing it. If not, then it is difficult to say whether or not history can learn from the Holocaust to prevent similar catastrophes in the future as well as if he is exploiting the suffering of people who experienced it. Art struggles with a problem of inherited guilt throughout the graphic novel. Growing up, he felt he was in constant competition with his dead brother. His parents preserved the memory of Richieu as a perfect child who suffered a tragic fate. Similarly, Art struggles with the trauma of being raised by Holocaust survivors. He is free from the trauma experienced by those in the camps but suffers the second effects that have bled into the second generation. This guilt manifests within him until he creates the “The Prisoner on Hell Planet” comic. Notably, the prisoner is dressed in striped pajamas, similar to the ones of those in concentration camps. Anja’s suicide leaves a question about the after effects of the Holocaust. The survivors move on, but many of them do …show more content…
Similar to the Nazi disposition that reduced Jews to subhumans, even animals, Jews are depicted as mice, Germans as cats, and Poles as pigs. The representation of Jews as mice places an emphasis on Nazi propaganda presenting them as vermin. They are timid, small, docile and considered an infestation. Germans are depicted as cats to show the natural opposition between the German and Jewish people. There is an implication about the instinctual drive of “cats” to kill “mice” and represents the condemnation of the German people. While the characters have the faces of animals, their bodies remain human. Jewish characters are shown to use masks to disguise themselves as Poles, some with greater success than others. The lack of differentiable characteristics among individuals of each race shows the absurdity of these divisions in real life. By depicting people as animals, the audience is able to distance themselves from the narrative in a way that allows them to continue it. Other depictions of the Holocaust have focused on the need to see the explicit horror committed in order to learn from it. However, Maus uses a different approach. By dissociating, it is easier to continue the story and accept it on a subconscious level. The depiction of Jews as mice offers a juxtaposition to the ever popular character of Mickey Mouse, created by Walt Disney, an antisemite. This contrast highlights the