Maus

Maus, by Arthur Spiegelman, is a intense retelling of his father’s life being a Jewish man during the Natzi occupation. The story stays true to the way Spiegelman’s father recounts it, which is the whole story. The story goes back and forth from the story of  Spiegelman father’s youth and him many years later telling his son. The thing that separates Maus from other graphic novels is the art style. For the author of this non fiction story to approach the narrative in such way that he did, truly intensifies the impact of the storytelling. There is so much symbolism in the character choices that the writer makes, the mouse characters are all Jews and implying that they are the lowest in the food chain, becoming obvious prey to the other characters. Also the audience is presented with the cat figures, which represents the people of the Natzi party, the predators of the mice. Dogs in the story, represents the United States, the dumb and friendly higher predator on the food chain, which creates a dynamic that the audience would already know and would be familiar with. I also enjoyed the relationship between Spiegelman and his father. His relationship with his father is complicated, but still loving and their conversations together in real time make everything so menial and casual. I also enjoy the father’s unrelated tangents about his wife and doing handyman work around his home, right after he pours his soul out to his son.