Literary Analysis Of Art Spiegelman’s Maus

Art Spiegelman uses animal characters and subtle symbolism to develop and propagate some of the most important themes from the height of the world wars and the Nazi regime in Germany. Animal characters, cartoon illustrations and an underlying message all come together to create a literary masterpiece in a work of literature and the use of language as a model and medium of expression. The author evaluates contentious issues of race, war, violence and equality from the lens of satire and animated humor, while still retaining the primordial feel of the story that personalizes and livens the tale of a father and his son through his lifetime, an era of war, survival through incarceration and the unprecedented dimensions of trust and betrayal. Together, the development and presentation of the story tell of a moving and sentimental tale of the character’s personal experiences, while relating to the social, political and economic occurrences around them as well.

The assessment looks into the use of each of these different dimensions in the development and presentation of the comical narrative. Often, when a reader goes through a book, and they find that it is an illustrated tale, they anticipate the use of comic and the presence of an underlying message which the words, general theme and the overall narrative all come together and intend to communicate. The author effectively performs this role and goes a step further to provide a personalised context to the story, thereby adding to the layers of the theme in the story as well. The personalised aspect in the characters and the setting of the tale influenced the classification of the comic book. When it was first released, the book was classified as fiction under the New York Bestseller list. Later on, the title was reclassified as a non-fictional due to the way that the major themes in the story are personalised to speak into real issues and actual occurrences in postmodern society as well as the particular setting of the story in the book. Perhaps the most evident feature in the elements that Spiegelman employs in Maus is the use of symbolism and figurative imagery. Maus is not only a survivor’s tale and a story relating the struggles of a father and son as they go through social, economic and political hardships, but it also relates closely to the underlying themes through representation and symbols. The author portrays the characters in the tale to represent various races with the Nazis as cats, Americans as dogs, and Jews as mice. There is a comic element in the external representation, yet when the reader goes deeper into the intention and the meaning of these animals as subjects in the story, there is an underlying message that the author seeks to communicate as well.

A review on the comic from Times Magazine, particularly directed on the author’s use of animal characters indicates that there is a genius in the approach of the author as he intends to deal with a critical subject prevailing within the past and the postmodern society. Further, the content and thematic setting of the story alludes to the nature of humanity, especially their moral and cultural precepts. The animals in the tale represent different nationalities as well as races, which indicates the relationship between humans. The animation also points back to the excerpt at the start of the narrative from Adolf Hitler which alludes to the lower, even non-human status Jews as a race, but undoubtedly not human. The author plays on the anti-Semitic stereotype that fueled war and a holocaust, leading to the death in thousands of Jews. The derogatory influence communicates an important message about the way a previous regime treated other human subjects in a violent, punitive and debasing manner. The same subject bears modern relevancy where race and nationality remains a controversial issue, especially in the height of globalisation and immigration into the developed world. The national characteristics form a prevalent feature in modern national rhetoric and the relationship between populations in the world. The personalised narrative in the tale also evokes important themes for deliberation and understanding, especially the struggles of the main character against economic, political and social influences all through their lives. The context in the personalised tale within the comic indicates that Spiegelman tells their story as a Jew who survived the Holocaust and lived to tell the tale of suffering and to come to terms with the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The personalised account also does an excellent job in going back and forth and following through the life of one character and their son, perhaps in the quest to develop an objective picture of a character surviving the Holocaust to the postmodern audience. The author offers this personalised perspective as a way of developing a connection and modern relevance out of the comic to the contemporary social, political and economic occurrences that resonate with the events from back in time. Beyond the harrowing tale of terror, confinement and suffering amid separation, death and betrayal, there are significant and highly relevant issues which come to light as well. Many of the readers from the modern audience have a historical grasp of these events and would desire to understand their practicality and relevance as well. Therefore, the author may have used the personalised experiences in the main characters with the intention of establishing the historical context, yet there are a modern context and relevance as well. Race and nationality are dominant issues today, and the illustration of racial stereotypes from the story indicates the characters of different people according to their background in the modern population. The characteristics of the animals in the comic also illustrate how the different races and groups of people deal with each other today. Dogs, cats, pigs, and mice bear primal behavioural features that relate to the human character and undertones of racial prejudice which exists today.

Spiegelman uses artistic expression to memorise and exemplify personalised themes from the Holocaust in an insightful and informative way for the postmodern audience. The intentional use of comic, graphic illustration and a personalised narrative all serve an important role in portraying the thematic issues of race, human interaction and the difference in behaviour which existed during the height of the Holocaust. These same thematic issues exist and play an essential role in evaluating and presenting various aspects of social and cultural dimensions today. Notably, the significant themes relate closely to globalisation, trends in immigration, racial prejudice and a state of inequity that are all prevalent in the postmodern era. The author has managed to negotiate the intricacies of identification and present testimony of the ‘survivor’s tale’ while creating practical lessons that bear relevance in the current age.