Maus I - Comic Book Review

Maus I summary

The Comic book, “Maus I” is the story of a Jewish father named Vladek, who goes through pain and suffering of the holocaust from a prisoner’s perspective. However as this is the story of Vladek, it is told by his son, Artie the comic writer. Artie is gathering information from his father about the holocaust and realizes how much this war has affected him. Although he complains throughout the story of his father’s behavior, he realizes how nasty and horrible Vladek’s history was. The story then official begins when Vladek finds a love relationship with his wife, Anja (Artie’s mother). Although there is background information of Vladek and Anja’s relationship, we can also observe the difference between the life before the holocaust and the life during it. Vladek and Anja eventually marry and are blessed with a baby boy named Richieu, who is not Artie. However as time goes by, the war starts to stir up and Vladek is recruited to war as a Polish soldier. He then shoots a German soldier, gets caught, and then is taken as a prisoner of war (POW). In this camp where POW’s are sent to, Vladek goes through an experience as a prisoner that changes his life physically and mentally. However, Vladek is eventually released through his friend and goes into disguise as a Polish man. He then finds his way to his family (parents, wife, and child). As head of the family, Vladek goes out in search of food and supplies. Although he manages to receive some items, Vladek’s family is soon forced to hide as the Nazi soldiers start to send large numbers of patrol men. Looking for safer places to live, Vladek bribes some poles to secretly help them move to Hungary. However betrayed by these poles, Vladek and his wife are soon caught by the Nazi soldiers and sent to Auschwitz.

There are many graphic techniques that Art Spiegelman uses to bring the story to life. One of them includes the transition between Vladek’s