MAUS (Vol I – My Father Bleeds History; Vol. II – And Here My Troubles Began) is a graphic novel (aka comic book) written and drawn by Art Spiegelman recounting his father Vladek's experiences in World War II. Vladek, a Polish Jew, was imprisoned in Auschwitz and separated from his wife, but amazingly they both survived and were reunited after the war.
Artie is a character in the work, and much of the plot deals with his difficult relationship with his father. As his father's health fails, Artie does become closer to him and understand him better while his father narrates his story for the book.
Volume one is very emotionally intense, as it deals with the beginning of the Holocaust, and the aftermath of Artie's mother's suicide decades later. We see how, during the early days of the holocaust, many Poles “sold out” the Jews, turning them in for the money. Bribes, betrayal, starvation, mercy killings, poison, suicide run rampant in this time.
In the present, we see Artie's complicated relationship with his father, Vladek's unhappy second marriage to Mala, in which each thinks the other cares only about money. We learn a bit about Artie's own time in a mental hospital (before mother died). Artie is outraged that his father burned his mother's diaries in a fit of depression – the diaries were meant them for him and would have helped in writing his book.
Most moving line, for me, was in volume one. Anja's first son, left in hiding with a caretaker, was poisoned to avoid capture, and when Anja finds out her son is dead and wants to die herself. Vladek tells her. “No, darling! To die, it's easy.. But you have to struggle for life! Until the last moment we must struggle together. I need you! And you'll see that together we'll survive.” (p122)
The most moving image was when leaving town, the crossroads was drawn as a swastika – a ominous sign that they had nowhere to go. Another grim image is the arrival at the infamous gates of Auschwitz. As Vladek recounts: “We knew the stories – that they will gas us and throw us in the ovens. This was 1944... We knew everything. And here we were.”
Volume two deals more with the father/son relationship – Artie is impatient, his father is difficult and controlling. When Mala leaves him things come to a head since Artie has to spend more time with Vladek.
Upon arrival at Auschwitz Vladek befriends a Polish kapo and is protected/privileged somewhat. A combination of luck, resourcefulness, and mental and physical strength get him through this ordeal. We learn how he communicated with his wife Anja who was in Birkenau, how they gave each other hope.
I am amazed by the perseverance of these survivors, and appalled by some of the choices they had to make and the terrible things they witnessed. Bribery was a way of life, and friendships were often more strategic than genuine. Prisoners who worked the gas chambers were killed every few months so that they did not get word out about what happened there. Some prisoners (mostly Hungarians) were burned alive in pits because there was no room in the gas chambers. Vladek tells Artie that the Jews didn't resist because they were starving, tired and frightened. Also they had hope the Russians would come and defeat the Nazis before it was too late.
The recurring image that stays with me from book 2 is of the crematorium chimney, and the dark humorous phrase that the only way one left the camp was “up the chimney.”
While Vladek may have some “survivor's guilt,” Artie as the son of a survivor seems to fell that nothing he does can stand up to this achievement. Even though he knows luck played a large part, he wrestles with his own guilt over the success of book 1. Although he understands better why is father pinches pennies, he is appalled by his close-minded racism towards blacks. Artie seems to struggle with the fact that he respects what his father did in the past, but doesn't like the person he is in the present.
Overall, volume two did not seem as compelling and dramatic as book one. The pace was faster, with more jumps from past to present. The wartime portions felt rushed, and the ending was sudden and felt incomplete somehow. I got the impression that Art felt forced to finish the story. There seemed to be less artistry in the words and images. There was some great factual information in volume 2 about the end of the war though.
I learned that reading graphic novels is hard for me – it is kind of like watching a foreign film with subtitles – I pay attention to the words more than the images, so sometimes I miss things. At least with a book you can turn back. I need to get used to reading a page and then looking at the images again to get an overall impression before moving to the next (or look first, then read). Overall though I found Maus compelling – it shows that a serious story can be told in comic format (this was groundbreaking when first published in the late 80's/early 90s). Also it could be a good introduction for young adults who are more interested in this genre than in reading a history text. The firsthand information and the unique style make it a worthwhile read.
***This is my fifth and final review for the
War Through the Generations WWII reading challenge.*** I also read and reviewed:
I Escaped from AuschwitzSlaughterhouse-FiveThe Remains of the DayThe Book Thief
The recurring image that stays with me from book 2 is of the crematorium chimney, and the dark humorous phrase that the only way one left the camp was “up the chimney.”
