"Maus I, II and Meta-Maus". Spiegelman's search for identity as a person and an artist.

1) Maus I                    2)  Maus II

3)Maus 25th anniversary edition   4) MetaMaus

When a piece of literature attains certain success it arouses public interest (American Documentary, Inc.), research  (Leventhal), and analysis.  Most of have already explored aesthetics (Miller et al, 1998); influences  (Spiegelman), background  (Fried), pedagogical (3) and even sociological  (Kohli) implications given the subject matter of “Maus”.  After its 25th anniversary, Spiegelman wrote "Meta-Maus" (A. Spiegelman) a book where, for instance, he dwells on what influenced him and common questions he has received throughout his life; he even presents extra and exclusive material, such as recordings of Vladek's memories.

"This isn't my  metaphor, it's a stupid idea, a dumb idea;
 "the Jews re iduvitably a race, but they are not human"
Adolf Hitler. In Mein KAmph you find references to jews
specifically as vermin, this is his metaphor, not mine.
 BBC Arena: Art Spielgerman's Maus, 1987. (11)

Having said that, and considering all the information available, Art Spiegelman's “Maus” collection - all of it- can account for the projection of his identity as an artist -a second generation holocaust literature comic writer- as well as the son of Vladek, Holocaust Jew survivor, plus all it involves.

“Maus I” and “II” depict characters as rats, cats, dogs and pigs.  Rats - Jews- are pursued by cats, which in turn are threatened by dogs. And pigs? “the Germans called us schwein [pigs]?” (Frieda Miller and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre), as a Polish press attaché pointed out. They were not involved in this food chain circle but caught in the middle anyhow, and  they could be allies or foes, meaning they could turn them in to the Nazis. That leaves us with… who's human?

“Rats. Destroy Them,” a 1940s poster
 from occupied Denmark.
MetaMaus (9)

All in all no character is really human, but a personification, since its most visual expression are animals, portraying the brutality subsiding the Holocaust itself. Come to think about it, Nazi metaphors illustrate Jews as rats (A. Spiegelman, Why Mice?), therefore, its extermination, as vermin, ought to be the solution. Moreover, Zycklon B (United States Holocaust Memorial Museaum.), the gas that chambers used, is a pesticide used for rats and insects.

Now, there is a plethora of conjectures, and many contradict each other as well as some support each other. Yet if either because of ethnic or  racial tradition,(4) the fact is that this drawing breaks tradition within Holocaust literature, and acts as a sort of catharsis, where Art and Vladek’s relation comes to relatively good terms, since he represents as much a father figure as  a part of history.

Page 42, Maus And Here My Troubles Began

Within this context, there is no real humanity deep down. In “Meta-Maus” book trailer, the author reads the vignette as he removes his "mouse mask", but beneath there was a skeleton, not a human face.  Thus, would it be possible that Spiegelman identifies himself as what history made of him? Hence accepting a side of him that never truly happened to him – defined by Hirsch (4) as post-memory.

Bibliography

1.      American Documentary, Inc. POV Documentaries with a point of view. n.d. July 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/pov/inheritance/photo_gallery_special_maus.php#.Vc-7k_l_Okp>.

2.      Fried, Ariel. Art Spiegelman’s Maus as Valuable Holocaust Resource. n.d. College of Arts and Science. Leigh University. July 2015. <http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/resource.aspx?id=163>.

3.      Frieda Miller and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. MAUS: A MEMOIR OF THE HOLOCAUST / Teacher's Guide. . Ed. Graham Sharpe. Vancouver: Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, 1998. <http://www.vhec.org/images/pdfs/maus_guide.pdf >.

4.      Hirsch, Marianne. Post-memory. s.f. July de 2015. <http://www.postmemory.net/ >.

5.      Kohli, Puneet. «The Memory and Legacy of Trauma in Art Spiegelman's Maus.» Prandium: The Journal of Historical Studies. 1.1 (2012): 1-5. July de 2015. <http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/prandium/editor/submission/16285/>.

6.      Leventhal, S. Robert. Art Spiegelman's MAUS: Working-Through The Trauma of the Holocaust. 1995. The Institution for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. <http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/holocaust/spiegelman.html>.

7.      Spiegelman, Art. "'MetaMaus': The Story Behind Spiegelman's Classic." with Neil Conan. Talk to the nation. WOSU. WOSU, Ohio. 5 October 2011. July 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2011/10/05/141085597/spiegelmans-metamaus-the-secrets-behind-maus?singlePage=true>.

8.      Spiegelman, Art. «Meta Maus by Art Spiegelman (book trailer).» Meta Maus. Pantheon Books, s.f. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql4oZtLruFE>.

9.      —. «Why Mice?» The New York Review of Books. 20 de October de 2011. July de 2015. <http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/oct/20/why-mice/ >.

10.  United States Holocaust Memorial Museaum. The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students. s.f. July de 2015. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007714 >.

11. BBC Arena: Art Spiegelman's Maus (1987) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4LIkbkSeN4>

12. Art Spiegelman. Maus, A Survivor's Tale I

13. Art Spiegelman. Maus, A Survivor's Tale II