Boston, Massachusetts , US
Posts: 10
LTQ Post 6: The Use of the Comic Form in Maus
Maus uses the comic form not to “lighten” the holocaust, but to make its weight easier to understand, making it a legible format that lets readers understand how real the story is. The visual language used, black and white panels, cramped feeling drawings, and the recurring images of incomprehensible acts all add to the feeling of constraint that gives the reader a feeling of realism despite the surrealism of animals in a comic format. Comics show how a person exists within a space, allowing for fear and vulnerability to be shown in posture, facial expressions, and crowdedness, allowing for a much better understanding of how individuals were swallowed up by the events around them. Visuals of a small figure surrounded by huge architecture, crowds, or even a war let the reader see instead of imagining the scale of the holocaust without getting caught up in nameless and faceless statistics. The simplicity of Maus’s drawing does not reduce the horror as it instead strips away distractions that would come with elaborate drawings. Instead Maus lets the reader confront the facts of persecution, loss, survival, and the damage that stays afterwards.The graphic novel style is particularly effective in moving back and forth between past and present, as it easily switches time without disrupting emotional connection, Spiegelman constantly switches in between the now and then, sometimes even on the same page, creating a story that doesn't lose its focus on either the holocaust of then or the trauma of now. One panel can be a drawing of Vladek in the 70s as the next panel puts the reader in occupied Poland, seamlessly connecting the past and present to effectively tell both stories. The way the reader understands the story in its straightforward but non linear fashion adds to their immersion and the realism of the book. The argument against those who claim that comics can be serious is that seriousness comes from purpose and personal engagement not a medium's reputation. Spiegelman makes use of comics with care and attention to pacing, symbolism, and distancing deviance such as the animal allegory that comment on nature and the challenge of showing atrocity.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 11
coolturtle The Use of the Comic Form in Maus
Spiegelman’s work of Maus is effective in capturing the emotional and historical weight of the Holocaust. I think that the Holocaust is often brought down to abstract statistics and numbers. People refer to the event as a the killing of millions of Jews with a number of Nazis perpetrators. However in Spiegelman’s novel, the choice of a graphic novel and an intergenerational parallel between father and son brim these abstract statistics into something real and authentic. In Maus I, there is a particular scene where Artie is riding a bike. Spiegelman then switches back and forth between the present, Artie and Vladek having a conversation, and the past, where Vladek is living in a concentration camps. I think throughout the novel, Spiegelman spurs back and forth between both narratives in order to show the burden Artie has to carry and the mental struggle Vladek has had to face his entire life. This gradual integration of both stories builds the layers of trauma on top of one another. As the novel progresses, we see Artie’s behavior become more defensive, short mannered, and often impulsive as he attempts to capture the entirety of his father’s story. We also see a change in Vladek. Despite him being nagging in his son’s eyes, Vladek grows a deeper connection with his son. In a way Spiegelman purposefully does this to show the character development of both characters and the importance of acknowledging generational trauma among many families who are traced to a victim of the Holocaust. Furthermore, the narrative is deeply personal to Artie and the first-person account of the narrative allows readers to grasp the Holocaust in its authentic form. Despite the medium lacking seriousness to some critics, I think it helps the book become more useful in conveying the events of the Holocaust. Graphic novels are much easier to process and with such heavy, sensitive topics like the Holocaust it can be hard for readers to process. Spiegelman is able to use his father’s story in a way that is authentic for readers and also original. The choice of a graphic novel and the choice of the topic create an ambiguous narrative that highlights all the importance of acknowledging the Holocaust. In “The Shadow of a Past Time,” the text refers to the iconic phrase that “time is space.” What makes Maus so special is its ability to utilize its spatiality in order to represent the complicated entwining of the past and present by “packing” the tight spaces of panels. In a way, metaphorically he is able to capture the all too real experiences of his father during the Holocaust. This use of space and the comic book panel is how Spiegelman is able to approach such history effectively. In retrospect, what makes Maus so effective in capturing the weight of the Holocaust, both emotionally and historically, is the utilization of comic media itself and the personal perspective Spiegelman takes into his own book.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
LTQ Response
I think we often talk about how unthinkable atrocities can be documented. And in this discussion, we often face away from how traditionally comedic forms can be used. I think that reading Maus reminded me a lot of the comedian George Carlin. Both, I feel, use the comedic art form to connect what is inherently difficult to discuss to a broad audience of people. Maus, for me, was effective because he doesn’t dumb it down. In fact, in a way, he expands it in a way you would never have expected. There’s something valuable in reading it, because it twists your internal image of the Holocaust. One of my favorite parts was the incorporation of anthropomorphism. The graphic novel perspective is unique, and I understand that there are people who claim that it doesn’t have the literary depth or seriousness that is needed to provide a narrative of the Holocaust. There are a lot of people who find a cartoon-ish art form inappropriate. But for me, that’s one aspect that really makes the work break the mold. Its meant to be different, unsatisfying. That, in itself, encapsulates the heart of the matter. I found that Spiegelman also disrupted the convention within his own style, adapting the drawings and interjecting with real-life photographs. Sometimes these are startling, because we are consumed by the art form that we are inadvertently avoidant of the issue at its core, and I think that incorporating these real-life images is a good way to ground the reader, while also allowing them to reflect upon their own interaction and interpretation of the work. That, I believe, is a central theme that many authors and artists try to attempt, but Spiegelman does it in a special way that I feel does it justice.
There’s a part of using the graphic novel format that allows an interaction between the past and the present, which is a central theme throughout the book. The psychology of trauma is not one that’s just shaped by ones personal experience, but rather its something generational. I noticed that multiple times, Spiegelman drew Artie in a sort of ghost-like or mirror-like image of Vladek. He really emphasizes the link between the trauma of the past and the irresolution extending across generations. Like the chimneys from Poland drifting into New York. It’s profound, because often the medium of literature often demands a kind of closure in issues which you can’t find. As serious as the subject is and always will be, we must learn to accept the depth and breadth of these issues, which cannot conform to our regular constructs of insolution and resolution. In the midst of it all, we learn to assume the greatest attempt of our species: the venture to be an honest witness.
Boston, Massachusettes, US
Posts: 10
In terms of portraying the emotional weight of the Holocaust, I found Maus extremely effective. There’s the obvious; the image of the Jewish people being burned alive in Auschwitz is horrific, even if they are depicted as cartoon mice (232), but it’s also in the subtle things. For example, in the panels describing Vladek being shoved into the train car with hundreds of other Jewish prisoners, all of the panels are very small, causing the reader to feel a sense of claustrophobia, similar to what Vladek was experiencing (246-248). The comic format also serves to benefit the story’s blending of different time periods. No better is this exemplified than in the final page of the book. Here, three different times collide; Vladek’s past and finding Anja, Art’s past in listening to the end of his father’s story, and Art’s present, where Vladek is dead, and all that remains is his and Anja’s tombstone (296). Vladek calls Art “Richieu,” his son who died in the Holocaust before Art was born, further blending the three distinct time periods together. As the article “‘The Shadow of Past Time’: History and Graphic Representation in Maus” points out, “balanced below the headstone… Art Spiegelman's signature, marked with the dates he worked on Maus.” The article notes that this signature mirrors the name on Vladek’s tombstone directly above it, representing a metaphorical death. Perhaps the part of Art that felt trapped in the past is finally allowed to move on now that this project is done. These layers of complexity, and reaching across three different periods of time on a single page is something that could only really be achieved by this medium. Another example of the way Maus has different time periods bleeding into each other is on page 239, where the bodies of the hanged girls appear on the road that Art and Vladek are driving down, showing how their deaths still linger with Vladek to this day. I think an argument for why the comic medium is not “too light” to discuss the Holocaust is that Art himself expresses this very fear throughout the text. In fact, Maus being partly about the writing of itself is quite interesting and a demonstration of how the medium impacts the story. Art talks with his wife about how he is afraid that his book will come off as "presumptuous" (174). This scene gets to the real reason that Maus doesn’t feel like it is making light of the Holocaust, despite its art style; it is brutally honest. Not only does Art express his fears about making his comic within the book, he also shows a therapy session, his father at his best and at his worst, and, overall, paints a painfully realistic portrait of both the Holocaust, and his own life.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 11
Originally posted by
sunnydays on February 03, 2026 08:37
The use of the comic form in Maus is an effective way of communicating the emotions of the Holocaust in a digestible way. When discussing the Holocaust, it's easy to get overwhelmed by or desensitized to the horrors of what happened. By using simple images, Spiegelman is able to balance feeling the weight of what happened with understanding it factually. There are several scenes - such as when Nazi soldiers smash a child against a wall (Maus I, 108) and the Hungarians burning (Maus II, 72) - where the emotional impact comes through in a way the human brain can still process and accept. This is similar to what Paul Buhle says in the article - "[Maus is] the most compelling of any [Holocaust] depiction because only the caricatured quality of comic art is equal to the seeming unreality of an experience beyond all reason." Additionally, the comic form allows Spiegelman to simplify very complex concepts, such as the use of mice and cats to represent Jews and non-Jewish Germans. By the end of Maus II, I was getting tense every time I saw a cat, even if it wasn't a Nazi. In this way, Spiegelman gives a sense of what it was like to live with these seemingly glaring differences. Similarly, there are many scenes where explaining would take away a lot of the emotional weight, like when Vladek barely escapes Nazis with his black market goods (Maus I, 78) and when Artie is struggling to write Maus (Maus II, 41), so the comic form helps convey the story more purely.
I also think using the comic form is a really effective way to integrate the past into the present. The panels easily slide between the story and Vladek telling it. In a traditional book, the author would need to describe Vladek telling the story or describe the story itself; in this comic, the narration is Vladek's, but Spiegelman is able to show the story itself or Vladek telling it, helping the reader better connect to the Holocaust and understand that this a real person's story. Vladek's interjections, such as when he spills his pills or when he starts to have a heart attack while walking with Artie, also help ground the story in reality and in the present, and help the reader understand the lasting effects the Holocaust have on Vladek.
There are places, however, that the comic form just does not suit what is being conveyed. Strangely, it's usually not the heaviest parts. Spiegelman is usually very good at expressing emotions through the mice that come across as real, not laughable, such as Vladek's sadness when he talks about Richieu's death (Maus I, 61), the man starving who can't stop talking about bread (Maus I, 123), and Tosha's conviction before she kills herself and the children (Maus I, 109). However, there are some scenes that are just drawn so ridiculously the seriousness doesn't come through, such as Vladek starving to avoid being drafted into the army (Maus I, 46), Mala's anger at Vladek (Maus I, 93), and Artie's chilly voice (Maus II, 23). However, I think overall Spiegelman does a good job giving the Holocaust the weight it deserves, in a way people are willing to read and understand.
The most compelling idea of my peer's post is the idea that Maus is effective in its comic form by being able to balance the feeling of the Holocaust itself and the actual reality of what happened. Similarly, I took on this same view by highlighting that Maus uses the "space" of the panels in order to cover the emotional weight of the Holocaust in each panel. Furthermore, me and my peer had similar thoughts on the integration of the past and present during the novel. I think Spiegelman does an amzing job with intertwining Artie's own thoughts and struggles with the holocaust and his eager attitude to know more about his father and his experiences. The intertwining of both the past and present show the intergenerational trauma that I think my peer could also touch on in his response. I like the use of specific examples in my peer's response. I think it helps visualize the significant importance of the novel and its effectiveness. Furthermore, I used a similar example with the scene from the bike and it shows how Artie switches from his own life to Vladek's experiences in a small amount of time and panels. I think suggestions could dive more deeply into the importance of using the comic media. Beyond balancing the weight of emotional and historical importance, how is the idea of a comic strip so important to telling the story of Vladek and Artie. I think there is something much deeper than using simple images to portray a sensitive and complicated topic such as the Holocaust. Overall, I think Spiegelman did a great job on giving the Holocaust the necessary weight it deserves. Me and my peer shared very similar ideas and I think finding ways to break it down to make it more authentic towards readers is much better than abstract statistics.
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
The Use of the Comic Style in Maus
In Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the comic form proves to be an effective means to capture the emotional and historic weight of the Holocaust through raw visuals, a muted color pallete, character design, and the placement of comic panels. It seems that Art Spiegelman was very intentional about his choices in the novel, with one of the most striking visual elements of the story being character design. Every major player within the German conflict of the 1940’s is represented by a certain animal, with the Jews being mice, the Polish being the pigs, the Germans being the cats, the Americans being the dogs, the British being the fish, and the French being frogs. Some of these decisions are rather surface level, with the French being frogs because they eat frog legs (cuisses de grenouille), the British being fish because of the popular british dish ‘Fish and Chips’, and the Gypsies being moths because of the crystal ball that they use and the species of moth known as the ‘gyspy moth’. On the other hand, there is a very clear narrative choice for the design of the other animals. Based on the text, I believe that Spiegelman made the decision to make the Jews mice because of the fact that, in his eyes, the Jewish people were treated much like vermin during the holocaust. They were murdered and gassed in an attempt to eliminate their presence in Germany, much like an exterminator would fumigate a house or property to rid it of rodents. Furthermore, Jews were experimented on during the Holocaust much like labrats are experimented on for science, so there is another connection to be made about their inhuman treatment. In addition, the Germans were made to be cats, which is meant to highlight their predatory nature over the Jews, and how Jews that were attempting to escape the Holocaust were playing a ‘cat and mouse game’ with the Nazi soldiers. For the Polish, Spiegelman actually chose the pig as the animal to represent them because he believes they represent the ‘neutral party’ or ‘bystander’ in the Holocaust. He states that “they are neither the primary victim, nor the primary oppressor”, and this is somewhat reflected in the way pigs actually behave in nature, with some being docile in nature and other, more wild pigs actually being ferocious and dangerous. The Americans being dogs could have multiple meanings, but I interpreted it as them being the foil to the Nazis, as dogs hate cats and cats hate dogs. Another important aspect of the graphic novel style is the way the characters are illustrated. Spiegelman makes the choice to always have the mice with a downward facing, meek look to them, and we rarely see their mouths, meaning most of their expressions are done through their eyes. In contrast, the German soldiers are almost never illustrated with their eyes visible. Their faces are typically covered by their helmets leaving only their mouths as a means to express themselves. This decision was likely done in order to illustrate the lack of humanity the Nazi soldiers had. Overall, I would say that the graphic novel style in Art Spiegelman’s Maus allows for stylistic choices that elevate the story as opposed to taking away from it.
