Spiegelman Literary Devices

In the scene 'Time Flies', Art Spiegelman uses multiple literary devices to convey both the story and it's important themes. In this scene there is a large focus on Siegelman's emotions. During the making of this scene, Spiegelman was suffering from depression; He attempts to portray exactly how he is feeling through his imagery and use of literary devices.

One literary device used throughout the scene is the image selection. At the beginning of the scene we see Spiegelman sitting at a writers desk positioned on top of a pile of the decaying bodies of Jewish people. Although this is not what was happening in real life, Spiegelman aims to portray how he is feeling using strong imagery and repetition. Spiegelman feels that his fame has come

Spiegelman portrays humans of different races and religions as different animals. This metaphor is used throughout the novel for a number of different reasons; to show a hierarchy similar to the food chain of wild animals, to show haw the Jewish people were thought of as vermin to be eradicated and to express how humans were acting like uncivilised animals. In contrast to the rest of the book, humans in this scene are depicted as wearing animal masks; thus creating a whole new metaphor. This is because he feels guilty. He is 'hiding behind a mask' because he does not want to confront his past, nor does he want to let go of it. It also symbolises that, due to Maus' rise in popularity, many people see him as the author of Maus and not for who he really is.

The use of black and white is an important literary device in any graphic novel. Throughout the entire novel black and white is used to convey many different meanings. In 'Time Flies' it is used to create a 'spotlight' effect. At many points in the scene it seems there is a spotlight on Spiegelman. This tells us that he is feeling pressured and vulnerable due to the fame Maus has