Maus

Spiegelman depicts two versions of Vladek Spiegelman (1906-1982). As a young man, Vladek is handsome, self-trained, resourceful, and faithful. His abilities to speak four languages and quickly learn crafts like shoemaking and tinsmithing allow him to survive the worst of the Third Reich, and in peacetime he is a clever salesman. As an adult, he is sickly, domineering, and stingy, with moments of racism and emotional manipulation. He spends the past searching for Anja and the present driving Mala away. He believes he is setting an example for his son, but Art interprets his behavior as wanting to prove “that anything I did was all wrong” (99). In a 2020 interview, Spiegelman notes that his decision to depict Vladek’s full personality shows “there’s nothing ennobling about being victimised” (Leith, Sam. “Graphic Artist Art Spiegelman on Maus, Politics and ‘Drawing Badly.’” The Guardian, 17 Oct. 2020).

Spiegelman depicts Vladek with a distinct accent, which is clear but can have odd sentence structures due to grammatical differences between languages. For example, he writes: “I had still candies I organized on Dekerta. Only THIS we had to eat” (150). Spiegelman cleans up the dialogue in the World War II timeline because it is understood to be in Polish; Vladek’s English to the Polish kapo is more in line with his normal speech, and Tosha’s lines in Part 1 are different from the recording that Art listens to at the end of Part 2. For Yiddish, Spiegelman includes both the original sentence and an English translation. Because it is an oral interview, Vladek sometimes pauses to give his story a moral: After describing how to fix shoes, he tells Art, “You see? It’s good to know how to do EVERYTHING!” (220). Real life also gets in the way, such as when Vladek accidentally knocks something down or needs a Nitrostat pill.

Maus begins with Vladek teaching Art about the fickleness of friendship, which echoes a similar statement he says to Anja in Birkenau about how friends only care about others if they get something in return. Despite this, Vladek never double-crosses anyone and often commits acts of charity, whether it is saving leftovers for a friend or rejecting a reward. He often credits helpful people like Mancie. Being friendly, however, may not be the same as believing in friendship, as keeping good relationships with others is also a survival tactic.

Art questions whether Vladek is unconsciously still practicing the habits that helped him survive, but Mala counters that he is the only Holocaust survivor she knows who behaves this way. The prewar chapters show that he is very tidy for a bachelor and that he gives Anja an ultimatum after her involvement in a communist plot, which could foreshadow his controlling attitude in the present. However, Pavel suggests that Vladek may hold an unspoken survivor’s guilt. He moans in his sleep, outlives nearly everyone he knows, and barely comments on his side of the extended family. The self-reliant man can no longer take care of himself.

Anja Spiegelman (1912-1968) is unable to speak on events past or present, but her presence looms large in Maus. Despite early suspicions that Vladek marries her for her wealth, he risks his life to keep her safe both in Sosnowiec and Auschwitz. This includes going out for food alone while in hiding and suffering a beating from a guard. Vladek also motivates her through her depression and tells her at a crucial juncture that life is a struggle.

While Vladek’s account takes the form of a survival story where he succeeds because of his wits, Anja gives credence to Pavel’s belief that living through the Holocaust is ultimately random. Anja refuses to give up Richieu at a point that likely would have saved his life, and she is terrified whenever Vladek must leave her. However, her desire to turn down the smugglers would have spared them the horrors of Auschwitz. Once there, she endures as long as Vladek does, despite her kapos forcing her into unsuitable roles.

Anja also has mental health challenges. Before the war, she experiences postpartum depression—a common symptom of childbirth—and requires extensive treatment. While at Auschwitz, Anja admits to a desire to run into an electric fence so that she doesn’t have to suffer. Mala sneers that she would have to be a “saint” to deal with Vladek and remarks, “No wonder she killed herself” (282). Art’s comic about her suicide suggests multiple reasons for her death, including post-traumatic stress disorder, menopause, and his failure as a son. However, it’s wrong to pin the reason for suicide to any one cause, and Art now feels more attached to her than Vladek. Spiegelman notes in a 2020 interview, “She came out with so much wisdom, or […] he came out even more traumatised and befuddled than when he went in” (Leith, Sam. “Graphic Artist Art Spiegelman on Maus, Politics and ‘Drawing Badly.’” The Guardian, 17 Oct. 2020).

Both father and son describe Anja as sensitive and intelligent. Vladek calls her a beautiful writer, and Art laments that Anja’s diaries, written after the war, would give some balance and insight to the story. Art’s fury over Vladek’s decision to burn them leads him to call his father a killer; this incident is especially hurtful as Anja herself wished that Art would one day want to know her story. At the same time, Art understands the emotional distress that Vladek lives with long after her death: “What is there to tell? Everywhere I look I’m seeing Anja…” (263).

Art’s wife plays a small role in the work but offers an opportunity for Spiegelman to highlight many of the work’s significances. Françoise is French and has converted to Judaism out of respect for Vladek, knowing how important the faith is to him. Though she and Art appear to be non-practicing, this demonstrates the love and care she seeks to show Vladek. Indeed, when Art is frequently summoned by Vladek to help, Françoise is there beside him, helping in any way that she can. Often, Françoise serves the role of a go-between or peace-maker—taking over for Art when Vladek frustrates him as they are trying to reconcile Vladek’s bank statements, for instance. Where Art becomes angry and lashes out at Vladek, Françoise is consistently calm and patient in her interactions with Vladek.

Similarly, she seeks to bring peace and calm to Art himself, reassuring him when he berates himself about the book’s merits and showing support with a listening ear when he vents about his frustrations with the criticism Volume I receives. As a foil to Art, Françoise serves as a model to Art for the kind of approach he would like to take with Vladek, but has difficulty doing.