Analysis Of Maus: My Father Bleeds History

Art Spiegelman, the author of Maus: My Father Bleeds History, interviews his own father Vladek Spieglman who is a Holocaust survivor, to document his experiences in the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a Jewish massacre in the Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Though Maus, in the narration, focuses more on the experiences of his father as one of the survivors of the massacre, it also seeks to present a case for people from two generations: Vladek from the past and Art from the present, and how the effect of the Holocaust has influenced their relationships. In essence, how the past influences the relationship with the future. This paper will bring up the relationship between past experiences and the present life of Vladek, from his response to questions …show more content…
This is because the human brain is likely to suppress, erase and try to forget some horrible memories which it is unwilling to store and recall. Our memories choose what to remember and what not to and to that extent, memory, as a source, is not effective to rely on because of the quality and reliability questions of the material. In addition, just like in research where data collected randomly is more reliable than data from a controlled setting, the fact that Vladek knew that Art was about to ask about his experiences brings concerns of quality and reliability. This majorly arises because of the fact that Vladek could have prepared on what his responses are going to be by making some additions or omissions. For instance, this is seen when he is not willing to talk about his ex-girlfriend, Lucia. He argued that it was very personal and was not respectful to talk about her. In another instance, he did not want to talk about Art’s mother, Lucia. He ended up controlling his memories about her, by trying to forget the painful past with her. Art tried to inquire more about his mother, but his father seemed to omit some parts of the story. There are some accounts which he did not like to talks