Maus+-+A+Survivor's+Tale

//Maus: A Survivor's Tale// by Art Spiegelman is a graphic autobiography, which talks about Art's father, Vladek Spiegelman and his experiences throughout WWII. Vladek was a German Jew who lived through the holocaust and shares his story with his son. In this book, the story of Vladek’s past is told through animals. Jewish individuals are portrayed as mice, not in a sense of degradation, but only because the Nazi officers are cats. Other animals are used in novel, such as the Polish are exemplified as pigs, French as frogs, Americans as dogs, and many others. In the story, Vladek is telling the tale of his time in the concentration camps, and how food was valuable. He talked about how he didn’t favor chocolate and later on, it as considered very valuable and rare, therefore he used it to trade then for things that he needed. He also talked about how much work he had to do at the camps, and how hard it was for him to see his wife. Throughout the graphic novel, Art goes in and out of current times, and the story that his father is presenting. His father now is presented as someone who is very conservative and doesn’t like to spend money. He’s careful of his possessions and likes to do things himself rather than hire someone to do it for him. Vladek thinks that his current wife keeps trying to rob him of his money. This shows how the Holocaust effected his life today by making his appreciate surroundings.