Maus: A Survivor's Tale
Enviado por Vasilisa_P • 9 de Octubre de 2014 • 1.983 Palabras (8 Páginas) • 249 Visitas
Publication History
Maus was first introduced as a three-page comic in
Funny Animals in 1972 and was then serialized in the
underground comics magazine RAW between the years
1980 and 1991. With the exception of the last chapter in
Volume 2, all of the chapters of Maus first appeared in
altered versions in the magazine. It was then published
by Pantheon Press as two separate hardcover books,
then as softcover books, and finally as a boxed set. Additionally,
in 1994, Maus was released on CD-ROM
with annotations, maps, and extended video commentary
by creator Art Spiegelman on the text as well as
examples of his later work. Spiegelman’s MetaMaus,
a commentary on the making of Maus, was released
in 2011.
Plot
Maus presents two simultaneous stories, Vladek Spiegelman’s
Holocaust story and Art Spiegelman’s experiences
as the child of a Holocaust survivor. The two stories
are interwoven together, as the framework for the
narrative is a series of interviews conducted between
Art and his father, Vladek. Through these interviews,
the reader learns about Vladek’s life before the Holocaust,
his Holocaust story, and Art’s struggles to live in
the shadow of a father who seeks to control all aspects
of his life.
The first volume, My Father Bleeds History,
presents the foundation for Maus, relating the story of
Vladek’s upbringing in Poland and his courtship and
early marriage to Art’s mother, Anja. Vladek narrates
about the family business and the ways that the Jews’
lives became restricted after the Nazis took power. At
first, Vladek is able to protect his family by paying
non-Jews to hide them; however, as the situation deteriorates,
he finds it increasingly difficult to do this
and is ultimately deceived in an attempt to flee the
country. Vladek’s narrative in Volume 1 ends with his
and Anja’s deportment to the concentration camp at
Auschwitz.
In this volume, the reader also learns of the challenges
that Art has in his relationship with Vladek as
well as his guilt over his mother’s suicide some years
earlier. These issues are revealed through strained
conversations regarding Mala, Vladek’s second wife
whom he treats poorly, and Vladek’s decision to destroy
Anja’s Holocaust diaries, which Art was interested
in using as research for presenting Anja’s story
in Maus. The volume ends with Vladek confessing
that he burned the diaries in a fit of depression, which
prompts Art to call him a murderer.
The second volume, And Here My Troubles Began,
commences with Vladek and Anja in Auschwitz and
details the ways in which Vladek was able to survive
selections, work details, and marches. In Auschwitz,
Vladek was adept at making deals with kapos, prisoners
working as supervisors inside the concentration
camp, in order to get better work details for himself
and Anja and used his English-language skills to advantage.
Both survive Auschwitz, reunite in their
hometown after the war, and rebuild their lives, first in
Sweden and then in the United States.
In the present, Mala leaves Vladek because she
can no longer tolerate his verbal and financial abuse,
and Vladek pretends to have a heart attack so that Art
will call him. Art and his wife, Françoise, temporarily
move in with Vladek at his summer home to help him,
but they are quickly burdened by Vladek’s demands.
Eventually Mala returns and takes care of Vladek until
his death at the age of seventy-five. Vladek’s death is
briefly mentioned but neither shown nor described in
the text; the final page depicts Vladek and Anja’s reunion
followed by an illustration of their shared tombstone.
Volumes
• Maus I, A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History
(1986). Relates Vladek’s early life prior to
the Nazi invasion and his experiences during the
Holocaust, culminating with his and Anja’s deportation
to Auschwitz.
• Maus II, A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles
Began (1991). Describes Vladek’s experiences
in the concentration camp, reunion with
Anja,
...