The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman is a first-hand look at the Holocaust from a Holocaust survivor, Vladek Spiegelman (Art’s father.) The book starts off with Art himself visiting his father. He eventually reminisces with his father about his past desire to draw a book about him to honor his story. He agrees, and the story continues as Vladek talks about becoming a war prisoner along with his late wife. He recalls the prison camps, the hunger, the horrible work and punishment he had to endure, and the friends he made that eventually got killed. His father Vladek, frail and weak from old age, tries to recall all his memories about the Holocaust, which by the end leads to Art and Vladek obtaining a closer relationship because of it.
Art Spiegelman effectively draws in the reader with his father’s stories about the Holocaust using a comic template for his book and using seemingly simple drawings to carry a despairing message of how his father’s world was ruined because of the Holocaust. Art Spiegelman uses mice to represent the Jews, and cats to represent the Nazis, in order to show symbolism between the two. Cats eat mice, showing the Jews vulnerability and absolute helplessness against the Nazis. I was absolutely shocked when I realized the symbolism Art hid between the Jews and the Nazis. Throughout every page of the book, I was shocked by how serious the Holocaust really was. Even though they teach it at school, this book helps you be in Vladek’s position. It lets the reader feel what Vladek is feeling, whether he just got tricked by Nazis, got his first meal after a week, seeing his wife for the first time after he got captured, and finally being able to escape to America. This book was packed with raw emotion and definitely one of the best books I’ve read so far.
This book doesn’t have a happy ending or any resolution whatsoever, Vladek had to go through something absolutely terrifying and lost his wife and could have potentially lost his life because of it. Despite this, I believe his son did an amazing job at making sure his story was heard. I recommend this strongly for anybody who wants a real, emotional story hidden in a youthful art style. Even if you take a minute to look deeper into the text being written, I assure you that you will be astounded by what this book has to offer.
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