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How Does Art Spiegelman Show Identity In Maus

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Everyone is able to identify themselves literally by their name and some information about them but, identifying themselves beyond the surface can sometimes be a struggle. Throughout Maus by Art Spiegelman the main character, Art, struggles with his identity. Art was born after the Holocaust and never had any major struggles in his life. That causes him to feel like he is not Jewish in the same way as his father and all of the others who went through the Holocaust.. As he interviews his father to get information for the book his issue with his identity grows.
Image 1 shows how hard life was for Jews during the Holocaust by showing the three mice that were hung and showing Vladek and others in fear. This takes place before Vladek goes to Auschwitz and after mass persecution of Jews begins. In this frame the dominant contrast is the hanging mice which gives the it an ominous tone which is supported by it being very dark. The subsidiary contrast is Vladek and Anja. The frame is a long shot at the level of Vladek and Anja and it is behind them. That helps the reader get a better view of the situation from their perspective. The intrinsic interest is Richelieu which is important because …show more content…

The first frame shows the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust and how they were fearful to do things that Art takes for granted (in this case going outside). The second frame then shows Art struggling with his identity as a Jew because he didn’t go through the hardships that the Jews who were in the Holocaust went through as shown in the first frame. The style of the frames also reflects how life was during the Holocaust compared to Art’s life. In the first frame everything is dark and the hanging mice are looming over everything. The second frame has a lighter color and is not as ominous due to not having grim figures looming over the frame like in the first

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In the panel showing Vladic hiding during the holocaust, everything in the background is dark and shaded and Spiegelman emphasizes the emotion on Vladics's face by adding eyebrows and turning down his eyes. In the panel showing the interview between father and son, the background is completely white and nothing is shaded in. In that panel, Artie is crossing his legs laying in a comfortable position facing the trench (Maus I). The minor details and slight differences in artistic styles could have been used by Spiegelman to emphasize the disconnect between the comfort in Artie’s life in comparison to the struggles his father faced. This can be perceived as Spiegleman subconsciously portraying the guilt he feels for not being able to resonate with his father.

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He employs kinesthetic and organic images in “swollen legs, moving with fear” (5). He is trying to depict the feelings of the Jews in the ghetto before the raid. They were always afraid of being captured. Their life was controlled by other people and this is one of the reasons why they now suffer from complex trauma. Furthermore, he uses an auditory image in “The shouts of the Raiders, enjoying the hunt” (8).

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