Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus by art Spiegelman
Generational trauma describes the effects of a traumatic event occurring in one generation which is then passed down to the next, perpetuating more trauma and continuing a cycle. In the case of Art Spiegelman, the effects of generational trauma beginning from the Holocaust is shown through his relationship with the “ghost” of his brother and the suicide of his mother. Art had constantly compared himself to Richieu, and began to develop resentment and jealousy of him, as he was under the impression that his parents would rather have Richieu back than be with him. As shown in Maus, one of the key components that led to his line of thinking would be how a picture of Richieu was in his parent’s bedroom, while there was no seen picture of him. Richieu was put on a pedestal which depleted Art’s self-worth and created distance between him and his parents. This would then lead to inner conflict as he had never met his brother as he had died previously in the Holocaust. Generational trauma had also manifested following his mother’s suicide. It is assumed that the trauma from the Holocaust influenced this action, which then passed the trauma down to Art, who had blamed himself for it. Art’s perceived inferiority and immense guilt were products of the trauma of the Holocaust despite it occurring before he was even born, “[p]ostmemory characterizes the experience of those who grow up dominated by narratives that preceded their birth” (Hirsch 22). Furthermore, Art’s experience is not the only one, as the impacts of generational trauma passed down by Holocaust survivors plague many families, shaping the development of familial relationships. One of the most well known origins of mass generational trauma would be slavery. Even to this day we can still observe the impacts of this event on the black community. A primary example would be the relationship between black fathers and their families. Throughout history, black men have been the target of legal injustice and racist violence. This took many black fathers from their homes, leaving their children with the absence of the influence of their father. This proceeds throughout generations, eventually generating the stereotype of constant absent black fathers, harming the black community. Another critical example would be the lack of trust in the healthcare system, a system historically having race-based medical malpractice. This fear has been passed down through generations, along with racial healthcare disparities, increasing health risks. Generational trauma hurts following generations and limits their potential. It prevents them and the community as a whole from moving forward and leaving the past behind. It is best to move beyond generational trauma and to not live with it, however, acknowledging its presence is the most important aspect. Recognizing the effects reduces its power, as it gives those affected the ability to make more informed decisions and know more about themselves. This could range from attending therapy to spending time with family and developing stronger relationships. In art’s case, a solution would have been to spend more quality time with his father, and get to know him more. One of his methods may have been to talk about his father’s past, however, this simply may have been an excuse to cover up his more egotistical intentions, to solely get information for his book.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Generational trauma, as defined by the APA, is “the transmission of trauma…in the form of a psychological consequence…from the generation experiencing the trauma to subsequent generations” being varied in reactions throughout generations. To speak to every person who experienced generational trauma from the Holocaust is impossible, but Spiegelman shares his experience with generational trauma through the subtle conversations he inserts in Maus I and Maus II with his father and their relationship. At some points, the tense relationship between Art Spiegelman and his father blurs the line between a typical father-son relationship, and one of “the transmission of trauma”. In Maus I, there is a particular scene where Artie eats dinner with his father, Vladek, and he says that he is full even though there is still food on his plate. Vladek tells Artie to eat what is on his plate (43). This seemingly mundane and insignificant scene shows the differences in generational experiences. Vladek’s response to Artie saying that he is done eating, indicates that he was not so lucky to always have food in front of him, so he pushes his fear of a lack of food onto his son. The horrors of everyday life for Vladek during the Holocaust are passed down in subtle ways onto his son.
Art Spiegelman clearly feels the impact of the Holocaust on his own life, as he shares through a particular panel in Maus II saying, “No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz” (Spiegelman 44). Art’s feeling of constant inferiority to his father, even after his father’s death, because he didn’t have to go through the same horrors as his father demonstrates the internal battle of suppressing his own feelings, and allowing himself to view his seemingly lesser problems as valid. Art’s struggle with his identity separate from his father forces him to realize that a large part of his identity comes from the struggles his parents faced during the Holocaust. The title of Maus II, continues on with the subtitle, A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began literally addressing the struggle he seems to face identifying that Vladek’s survival caused some of Art’s struggles in his own life. Stanislav Kolář dives into this idea writing, “Art’s story confirms the assertion that generations which have never been exposed to a traumatic event can ‘inherit’ the trauma of their ancestors and that the most common channel of this intergenerational and transgenerational transmission is through the family” (Kolář, Stanislav). Art Spiegelman’s identification of his trauma is what allows him to move on, to a certain extent. It is important to understand that his identification of this trauma does not extinguish it from his life, but rather acts as a coping mechanism so that he is able to live with it with better understanding of why he feels the way he does. As previously mentioned, Art’s identity does not exist without his childhood experiences which were somewhat traumatic, and therefore Art’s acknowledgement of this allows him to create awareness on the topic of generational trauma.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflection on Maus
Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors by downplaying their personal experiences and heightening that of their family. For Spiegelman, his relationship with his father heavily impacted how he dealt with generational trauma. Artie and Vladek’s relationship was strained, but they still valued their blood bond over anything else. Generational trauma had a huge role on their relationship because of certain traits Vladek picked up in Auschwitz. For example, Vladek attempts to do everything himself, like add storm shutters to his house. This angers Artie, but he does not realize that the Holocaust has caused his father to become more independent since putting his trust in the wrong people cost him greatly during World War 2. This is especially true after Vladek is betrayed by the smugglers. Another instance, when Artie tries to return the already opened groceries, shows how food, money, and other valuables are not to be wasted by Vladek because he was given limited resources to survive during the Holocaust. How this affects Artie years later is seen when Artie feels anxious about spending time with his father, as he feels like his father is suffocating him and becomes the center of attention whenever he visits. Artie may not realize his own trauma, but it is present even when he is vulnerable to his wife when he admits he used to be jealous of his deceased brother, Richeu. This displays the impact of generational trauma on Artie because he feels the need to put his parents' grief over his own feelings of displacement. Rather than come forward and tell his parents he feels overshadowed, he continues to be haunted by his parents' trauma to make them happy (by constantly looking at Richeu’s portrait and even having nightmares about Nazi’s).
The weight of the trauma experienced by ancestors affects young people today because they feel like they will never be worth enough. Artie tries to overcome this by working hard to get his fathers story down and not disappoint him. He does this for several reasons, one of them being to make his father feel better about losing a son. The generational trauma that affects both Artie and Vladek is the loss of Richeu. For Artie, he struggles mentally with self esteem, as noted in “Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman's Maus”, where page 231 states, “throughout the whole work, Art’s depression arises from his feelings of incompetence, which only intensifies his feeling of guilt. He is convinced that he is nothing more than an imperfect surrogate of his brother Richieu who was killed during the war.” Unfortunately, young people feel the need to be the generation that surpasses the first, but for generational trauma survivors, they have a more pressing urgency to be better. Artie feels the need to not only replace Richeu, but become a more worthy version of him as to not live in his shadow.
I think generational trauma can be overcome, but should be acknowledged. By doing outreach worthy projects, like writing Maus, Holocaust survivors and their children can both come to terms with what they went through while sharing their stories. However, the impact of generational trauma is a great risk to young people and may cause them to have wasted potential, as seen with Artie’s stalling of the second part of Maus. Overcoming trauma may take years and therapy, but moving on will be beneficial to the children of Holocaust survivors so that they too do not lose a part of their lives.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 9
Reflections on Maus by Art Spiegelman
Spiegelman uses the comic form effectively by allowing the reader to visualize the story better. Not only does each illustration show what Vladek saw in each scene, but also uses mood and brightness to show how Vladek felt. For example, scenes in the past are generally darker than scenes in the present. Spiegelman also shows scenes of violence and death that reminds the reader of the brutality of the Holocaust and creates a sense of dread. Additionally, the illustrations help connect the past and the present while maintaining the flow of both stories. Scenes from the past are interspersed with scenes of the present, allowing the reader to compare and contrast the two time periods while staying on the topic of Vladek’s story. For example, when Artie and Vladek walk to the bank, the book mainly focuses on the past but often briefly takes the reader into the present. The scenes of the past are used to transition between two places in the present, while the scenes of the present remind the reader of the actions happening in the present and the dialogue adds context to the events of the past. The reader also feels as a part of the conversation, as if Vladek was directly talking to them, which makes the moment feel more personal through the illustrations. This moment also places emphasis on Vladek by showing how he has changed since the Holocaust and allowing the reader to have a connection to him. In the past, Vladek is surrounded by friends, but he is only with Artie in the present. The comic form also allows readers to better connect with the characters and their experiences. Most characters are drawn as an individual and many are given a face. Even when there is a conversation between two characters, the people next to them are drawn with the same level of detail. In a standard novel, however, extra characters are reduced to small asides. These minor details in the illustrations allow the book to show the experiences of each character instead of just their stories and immerses the readers in the book’s setting.
Some argue that the comic form of Maus takes away the seriousness of the Holocaust. However, others suggest that Maus uses the aforementioned contrast between past and present scenes to bring them together. The presence of the present allows readers to see how the Holocaust has affected Vladek and how his trauma has affected Artie. Spiegelman says that comics “are about time being made manifest spatially, in that you’ve got all these different chunks of time - each box being a different moment of time - and you see them all at once. As a result you’re always, in comics, being made aware of different times inhabiting the same space” (qtd in Chute 2006). Maus’s comic format allows it to show scenes of the past and the present side-by-side to deeply connect the two time periods and fosters a deeper understanding of the impact of the Holocaust on survivors.
Reflections on Maus by Art Spiegelman
Generational trauma is transferring traumatic memories or events onto the following generation. This is shown with Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Maus II as he portrays the complicated and tense relationship between him and his father. Although the Maus books mostly cover Vladek’s account and experiences during the Holocaust, they also briefly display their relationship as a result of the trauma Art’s father has dealt with for much of his life. Generational trauma impacts children of Holocaust survivors as the personal experiences of those who had gone through the Holocaust creates a form of distance between them and their children. This is seen especially in Maus II in the chapter “Auschwitz (Time Flies),” where Art expresses to his therapist, Pavel, how he struggles to execute Vladek’s trauma into cartoons. He mostly struggles with this because he was not present at the camps, so he has no personal connections to the Holocaust besides being the child of a survivor. This means that his only connection and understanding of the Holocaust is through his father, who he already has a rocky relationship with. In Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman's Maus, it states how this is something called “postmemory,” where the generation following survivors only remember an event based off of stories, tales/oral memories, and/or pictures. This results in the “understanding” of how an event like the Holocaust was bad, but never understanding what survivors actually had to endure, creating alienation and distance between survivors and their children. Keeping this in mind, Spiegelman likely transferred this distance to his works when creating Maus. Because Art was not there during the Holocaust, he wants to be able to tell his father’s story accurately and as realistically as possible while still separating himself from the event since it isn’t his own story he is telling, and he achieves this by portraying the characters as anthropomorphic animals. Therefore, generational trauma in terms of the Holocaust distances survivors from their children as they cannot personally connect a large part of their life and identity with their children in a way they can truly understand without having to be there to experience what they did. Another way generational trauma impacts the children of survivors is that the trauma experienced during the Holocaust affects how survivors interact with others and the world around them from that point onwards. One example of this is how Vladek would always force Art to eat all the food on his plate, stated in chapter 3 of Maus I. This was likely a sort of subconscious reaction of not wasting any food, since Vladek was always provided with very scarce or even no food. However, this treatment likely impacted Art’s relationship with food as well. Another example of this is how Art says throughout the books about how Vladek would always say that he should have done something without Artie’s help or how he makes everything a competition. Pavel makes good insight of how this was likely a way for Vladek to prove that he is capable of surviving because he was constantly on edge and fighting to survive and show that he is skilled enough to do so. Additionally, there is the factor of Art’s deceased brother, Richieu, who died during the war. He indirectly states how he viewed Richieu as competition because Richieu acted as a “phatnom” of Vladek and Anja’s old lives before the war. Since things were better before the war, it is natural to long for how things were prior to the trauma. This created a layer of trauma for Art because it made him feel inadequate in comparison to his brother, especially when he had no control over his brother’s death and its impact on his parents.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus Post 2
In the case of Art Spiegelman, his trauma is often misunderstood by many who read his book. On the surface, some find him abrasive, apathetic to his father’s stories, and overall not compassionate throughout the book. However, it is important to understand the everlasting impacts of the Holocaust, and how it also extends to the lives of those who did not experience it themselves. More specifically, the consequences of his parents. In the novel, Vladek’s instincts in his day to day mannerisms are drastically different compared to the “average” American family. For example, his obsession with saving money, his harsh critiques of Mala (his wife), and often isolating himself even from those who’ve known him for quite some time. According to Spiegelman’s drawings, the genocide had manifest in his frugality, paranoia, and emotional distance. These traits, while survival mechanisms for Vladek, become burdensome for Art, creating tension and guilt as he tries to understand and honor his father’s suffering. This is where the idea of second generation trauma survivors comes in-- the children of those who directly experienced atrocities often bear the psychological and emotional burdens of their parents’ suffering. Within communities, many experience similar things being in such close proximity, and in return, the next generation continues the same notions of yearning for answers. For Art, his expression of comics allowed him to find his purpose in building resilience with his father. However, the novel accounts for his obstacles with drawing the final piece because of the emotional disconnect. In a more general sense, many people do experience second generation trauma than they realize. Many have coined the term generational trauma, where the actions and trauma of a certain age gap is passed onto the next. It can be acknowledged only if the people that are affected by the trauma (multiple generations) are able to grow and bond over the past. Addressing this trauma requires acknowledgment and active healing efforts rather than repression. While some argue that moving beyond generational trauma is necessary for personal growth, others believe it is crucial to keep the memory alive to ensure history is not repeated. During the summer of 2024, I was personally put on a project that regarded the healing and resilience of a loved one. Hearing my dad’s story of fleeing to the United States, I didn’t think that his story after the trauma was truly over. It was then when I heard his story of living in the United States as a highschool student, that I understood the drive to be successful came from a secondary trauma stance. After interjecting my own experiences with my fathers, it finally clicked for me how my father and I could grow from the experiences we faced at those similar ages. Simply talking about the stories that mirror our lives is a possible way of moving forward, and this is what was seen in Maus. Ultimately, the past shapes us, but how we carry it forward—whether as a weight or a source of strength—depends on how we choose to acknowledge and understand it.
Dorchester Center, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Generational Trauma in Art Spiegelman's Maus
Generational trauma, a term used to describe the “transmission of trauma and its legacy,” (APA), is demonstrated in Art Spiegelman’s Maus as Artie Spiegelman narrates the point of his life during which he met with his father on occasion and learned about his Holocaust survival, which Artie is hoping to turn into a novel. As Artie uncovers more of the previously-unspoken traumatic experiences of his father, one assumes that he is able to maintain composure and detach himself from any further connections to this horrific past given that he was not there himself. However, as Maus continues to explore the effects of the Holocaust in the present, past, and future, Spiegelman makes note of the cyclic feeling that such traumatic events can create for generations. These persistent feelings of guilt, fear, shame, and anger can be witnessed not only through Vladek’s temperament, but also through Artie’s feelings of envy towards the experiences of his family, as well as his frustration with his lack of understanding different aspects of the event including the death of his mother, brother, and the psychological changes of his father. Vladek’s continuous hesitance towards observing his trauma, in hopes to protect Artie on some level as well as himself, manifests in Artie’s inability to confront his own experience living as a member of the new Jewish generation. Spiegelman explores this idea of “postmemory” through Art’s internal conflict of isolation, which according to Hirsch, “[p]ostmemory characterizes the experience of those who grow up dominated by narratives that preceded their birth, whose own belated stories are evacuated by the stories of the previous generation shaped by traumatic events that can be neither understood nor recreated” (Hirsch 1997: 22). Writer Kolar Stanislav continues on the idea of postmemory, evident in Maus, in his article “Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman’s Maus:” “It is not coincidence that the concept of postmemory arose in connection with Holocaust studies because of the centrality of the genocide for the children of survivors who ‘remembered’ the events not lived through. Postmemory reflects the level of identification with the original recipients of trauma and is often characterized by the feeling of displacement, living in temporal and spatial exile, estrangement and the experience of a lack and absence which frequently leads to an identity crisis” (Stanislav 228-229). Despite Art not living through the events of the Holocaust first hand, he continues to feel the effects expressed through an identity struggle, as well as his frustration with his own father. One could view Art’s attempts at hearing his father’s story for his novel as exploitation, yet it could also be argued that Art truly seeks an understanding of his family and community’s trauma, and he hopes to give it justice in the form of literature. Throughout the novel, it is evident that Artie struggles with completely understanding the events of the Holocaust, which he so desperately wants to comprehend; in Maus II, chapter 1, Art opens up to his wife about his desire to fully know these events as he says: “I know this in insane, but I somehow wish I had been in Auschwitz with my parents so I could really know what they lived through! … I guess it’s some kind of guilt about having had an easier life then they did” (Spiegelman 16). Artie’s guilt felt by his survival is also expressed through his frustration and envy with his “ghost brother” Richiev, who had died during the Holocaust. Artie comments that the photo of Richiev in his parents’ bedroom “never threw tantrums or got in any kind of trouble…it was an ideal kid and I was a pain in the ass. I couldn’t compete” (Spiegelman 15). The shame felt by Artie in terms of his life, as both a survivor and a son, helps to express Spiegelman’s broader ideas of generational trauma, especially how it may manifest itself in ways that are not typical. One may dislike Artie throughout the novel due to his lack of attention to his father’s extreme dependence and his ignorance to some of his father’s demands, but it is important to recognize that Art is a flawed character and the secondhand trauma he felt evident throughout Maus is part of the lives of many others. Generational trauma is hard to overcome or avoid but recognizing that it is there and allowing those emotions to be felt is a significant step in healing one’s relationship with their trauma and finding identity outside of it.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus
Yes, Spiegelman’s use of the comic form is effective in conveying the emotional and historical weight of the Holocaust. Comics are simply a medium, and although historically they are used for more light-hearted things, such as superhero stories, it is not the cultural stereotypes of the medium and thus Art’s subsequent rejection of those stereotypes are not his fault. I think that there is some validity in the claim that one must be careful to maintain the weight of events as heavy as the Holocaust, but art and expression cannot be limited to what the viewer feels is the best expression; the message loses its potency, relevance and perspective. Personally, I find the medium really engaging. The story instead is still, clearly very dark, but the use of animal characters allow Art to accurately portray the events without verging into nightmare territory. In my mind, it was the best way to maintain the story and keep the reader reading. I find that the argument that the medium lacks seriousness to be a little invalid; a medium is just that: a medium. It is meant to convey a message. A medium cannot be what its message is not. It is, simply put, the blankest of all slates, only invigorating the emotions that the story wants. That is not to say that there is not a difference between mediums, and some mediums tend to be more effective at communicating ideas, but the story comes down to the artist, not the medium. Art did not intend for this to be a light story, and it does not read like one. Take, for example, the movie Spirited Away. It uses the medium of animation (not genre, the medium, get it right, oscars), a medium that many people fallaciously view as pertaining exclusively to children’s stories, but it tells a story of identity, the supernatural, and growing up, and overall has very adult themes. There are also shows like Invincible or Bojack Horseman that still use the genre but are not meant for children in the slightest. Comics often do the same thing, Deadpool, or instance. Now, I hear what you’re saying: Isn’t there a big difference between portraying fictional gore and nudity and using the medium to tell a survivor’s perspective on an actual genocide, to which I would answer you: Yes. That is not what I am arguing, and of course there are differences and one of those is a significantly more delicate topic than the other; I am just pointing out how the limits of genres are constantly being pushed. The graphic format itself is VERY seamless in shifting between Vladek's past and his and his son’s present. The lack of space between the comics and stories themselves parallel the struggles of the past with the struggles of the present; how his story, his trauma seeps into the bones, the pages and his son. As Chute succinctly put it, “Throughout Maus he [Art] represents the complicated entwining of the past and the present by ‘packing’ the tight spaces of panels. He found an ‘architectonic rigor…necessary to understand to compose the pages of Maus,’ he explains (qtd. IN Silberblatt 33), and has commented: ‘Five or six comics on one piece of paper…[I am] my father’s son’...”. It is details such as these that really demonstrate Art’s mastery over the comic form.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus by Art Spiegelman (#2)
Generational trauma impacts the kids of Holocaust survivors because they’ll have to live through certain “atypical” habits that the parents may have picked up during the Holocaust. Such as Artie who has to live with his fathers habits of not spending money and getting everything he can for free despite any possible embarrassment. This is a habit Vladek has picked up during the Holocaust because money was valuable because it helped you survive another day and possibly gain some freedom. However, despite no longer being in the Holocaust and being rich, Vladek still saves every penny he gets simply because he spent so long doing this and Artie who has not lived through that time period is now forced to wear clothes and shoes until they're basically broken because Vladek wouldn’t want to spend money on new ones. We can see the effects on Artie from the generational trauma that Vladek experienced. Due to how Vladek acts because of his trauma from the holocaust he has raised Artie in a way that Artie personally does not agree with because he thinks it doesn’t make sense. He understands that some things are from the war but he repeatedly brings up how his neighbors who are also survivors from the holocaust do not act the same way. This disagreement in upbringing then causes a rift between Artie and his father when they grow older and at this point where the book takes place Artie wants to see as little from his father as possible. From the beginning of the story until the end this is true, and itis all due to the trauma from Vladek that he does not know how to take care of and still lives through. Despite not being the ones who lived through it, children of Holocaust survivors might have to live like they had due to these unbreakable habits. It really is not possible to move past generational trauma because these traumas, especially those from wars, are extremely strong and apparent in the survivors lives and due to that trauma the way that the children are raised is completely changed to accommodate for said trauma. Moving beyond these traumas is not a good idea because it causes these survivors to live in isolation and leaves those who committed such horrible deeds free to live their lives regardless of their need to be punished. Moreover, it pushes them into a corner that says their life experience does not matter and since this is such a major part of their lives, in a way it is kind of saying to these people that they do not matter to begin with. It is better to live with these traumas and acknowledge them because not only is it simply right because it gives acknowledgement to those who survived but also because it helps history not repeat itself. We learn history so we can grow as a society and simply ignoring these traumas is the same as ignoring the effects of the Holocaust.
Boston, Massachusetts , US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus by Art Spiegelman
Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman, since they usually grow up to have psychological and emotional scars. This is usually from their parents' experiences. Like Art, his parent’s experience damaged him in ways even though he hadn’t lived through the Holocaust. He most likely “inherited psychological strain”, like anxiety and depression. Survivors of the Holocaust often are found to have PTSD and having different types of coping mechanisms that for sure affect their children. An example of this is when Art and his father Vladek were sitting down and listening to Vladek’s story and he starts getting upset about his medicines that fall. He had a certain way that he wanted them counted. Another example of this is when Vladek scolded Art to eat all his food since there are people out there starving. These are coping mechanisms and just old habits that Vladek got overtime after the Holocaust. This put an effect on Art since he has to grow up thinking that this is the normal way of living. This would then lead to generational trauma stemming from Vladek and his experiences with the Holocaust.
The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors and communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today can impact young people today because it changes their identity and the way they behave. Some people can feel as though they carry the weight of all the tough memories and experiences of being in the Holocaust even though it were their grandparents that lived through it. The stories that their parents or grandparents pass down to them about the Holocaust can be apart of who they identify to be growing up. It can change behavioral patterns since people like Art had a father that was still trying to recover from his habits during the Holocaust. (Like eating every last piece of food). This is the same for coping skills. For people that had family with PTSD from the Holocaust, it could change the dynamic of the family drastically. If there is a parent that is emotionally distant to their children due to the lasting impacts of the Holocaust, this could change the child and the way they grow up majorly. They could also inherit their parents' surviving skills and coping mechanisms. A lot of people that struggle with the big scars left from the Holocaust or any bad tragedy tend to have unhealthy coping mechanisms. This could play a role in the child’s life and psychological ideas.
I believe that it’s hard to move beyond the generational trauma and is quiet easier to live with it and acknowledge it. I also believe that when one does heal from generational trauma, it doesn’t control their live but more of exists with the person and their lives. Healing and transforming one's life can involve therapy and self motivation. Most of the time survivors will believe that since its over there shouldn’t be anything else done about it and they should be living with the “consequences” of the war. But this isn’t true since there should always be self improvement after something traumatic.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Reflections on Maus by Art Spiegelman
I do not believe the art form of comics ought to be dismissed on face as an inappropriate means of addressing the Holocaust and Spiegelman’s story as I believe art is an appropriate medium through which to express emotions, especially if it feels right to the artist. The visual style of Maus with its emphasis on linework and contrast between light and dark shapes, lends itself well to expressiveness and guiding the reader’s eye to the dynamic and broader implications of every panel, such as the bottom left panel on page 127, in which the obscuring of detail on the people, landscape and trees by darkness makes the shaping of the fork in the rode into a swastika unmistakable and likely the first thing readers will notice about the image. All this being said, I do believe that, despite the clear emphasis on emotions and creating a specific mood throughout the panels, the emotional landscape is diminished by the speed with which the story and medium progress. Although the telling of the story from the perspective of a survivor and the emphasis on his family in particular allows the reader to empathize uniquely by connecting to characters, each element of the story is afforded only a few panels of space, creating a very fast progression that did not leave me enough time to sit with the implications of the story and emotions I experienced. The reading experience felt more like a massive influx of information, memory and emotion that I could not sift through quite fast enough to take away as much as I think I could have during the reading itself. Artie’s pattern of bringing Vladek back to historical details and cutting off anything he deemed an unnecessary tangent compounded this feeling, as I think such tangents about the past, even if not directly taking place during the Holocaust, would provide invaluable insight into how a survivor experiences such painful memories and which parts remain the most tangible. I do, however, recognize that the speed of narration can be interpreted as a literary technique to leave readers with a sense of overwhelming emotion that may mirror even a tiny fraction of what Vladek and Artie were experiencing in the reliving of the past.
In terms of effectively conveying the historical gravity of the Holocaust, I think Maus does an incredible job as it does take readers out of the numbers and figures we so often get bogged down in and sharply brings into focus the true human impact of these atrocities. It feels, however, as though much of the emotional processing within the story occurs between character rather than between characters and readers, particularly as the comic form precludes some of the longer descriptions of thought and scenery that a novel might include. The additional layer of Artie interacting with Vladek and processing the memories of the Holocaust in more present times does add the nuanced question of how we interact with history that we did not live and the manners in which we may most ethically preserve it for future generations to understand. The graphic novel is among the best mediums to achieve this as it supports quick transitions that last only a few panels without unnecessary space given to transitioning the reader back and forth through time. Spiegelman simply must redirect the audience to the visual representation of the past or present through the setting of the panel, and even something as simple as the presence of Artie is enough to cement the shift. “The Shadow of Past Time”: History and Graphic Representation in Maus argues that Spiegelman makes these transitions in an even more nuanced manner by integrating visual elements from the past and present to communicate to readers the fluidity of memory and the narrative itself. For instance, towards the beginning of the book, we see Vladek pedaling in place on his stationary bicycle, acting as the binding between the past and present, Artie, a representation of the present, and a photograph of Anja from before the war, demonstrating how memories of the past bleed into the present and affect every aspect of our perceptions. Overall, I think Maus is an objectively successful historical representation.
Boston, Mass, US
Posts: 10
Reflection On Maus: Generational Trauma
Generational trauma seriously affects the children of Holocaust survivors and Spiegelman is a prime example of this. The Holocaust was such a serious event that took place that if someone was involved in any way it would affect them. To think that these events happened to humans is unimaginable and to think about these events happening to your loved ones, seems even more unimaginable. I think one major way that wars such as the Holocaust and others could affect generations to come is affecting their ability to trust others again. For example, if the Jewish people lived their lives how they knew them for so many years then randomly they are being forced out of their homes and beaten by their own neighbors. This behavior is the reason why survivors of these events could never trust again and makes sense why they would preach to their children/families to also never trust again. This could continue to get passed on through generations, making it hard for certain people to connect with people who are unlike them purely out of fear. In Maus we constantly saw the Jews being lied to and not being told the truth about where they are being brought or what is going to happen to them there. Also, this inability to trust could transfer to never feeling safe. If these awful events occurred when people were taken from their homes or even in their own neighborhoods, they are likely to not feel safe again. Such as in Maus when survivors returned to their homes after being freed and they were beaten to death by their neighbors. One's home and neighborhood is supposed to be a place to feel safe and secure but if these things happened to their ancestors in their neighborhood. This will affect generations to not trust people that are different from them as well as always be on alert to ensure their safety. These constant feelings they feel might translate into anger towards people for making them feel this way and making their ancestors go through these awful events. This can essentially create more hate and divide the Jewish community further from other groups. Specifically speaking of the Holocaust, Jewish people still face acts of hate in today's society. This furthers their belief that they should not trust anyone and should never feel safe. These acts of hate still occur because people are raised in environments where they still believe hatred towards groups that are not like them is right and is okay and that is another thing that can be passed through generations. In Stainislav’s article there is mention of how generational trauma often contrasts with personal trauma which enhances it and makes it even worse for that individual especially if they are already suffering from something else, such as Art in Maus. Overall, generational trauma has a large effect on individuals, even to the point where it can shape one's life such as Spiegelman when he dedicated his life to recording his fathers story and then turning it into a graphic novel. People carry things with them that those before them did because it is all they know to do when they grow up in an environment that does the same.
