The most compelling page in Maus is the one when Anja and Vladek are going towards Sosnowiec although they do not have the goal destination. They are heading somewhere and hoping for the best. This story is narrated with the help of design and illustration and it is very interesting because it is based on the life story of the creator. Spiegelman designed the novel by keeping the illustrations simple and it is done in black and white instead of coloring. The story follows the lives of Jews who are being exterminated by Hitler and the Nazis and the design is simple because it emphasizes the story that is supposed to elicit strong emotions which makes the balance between the illustration and the content. This page is full of emotions especially because the Jews from Poland finally escape from the ghetto, but Anja and Vladek have nowhere to go and the path in front of them is in the shape of a swastika, the symbol of Nazis. The most painful feeling in the world is when people do not have a home and when they are forced to abandon their homes. They also fear for their lives and the fact that they leave at dawn makes it all worse. This kind of behavior is uncivilized because people do not deserve such a treatment.
Vladek is the survivor of the Holocaust from Poland and he moves to America afterwards. He is a man who speaks weak English and is stubborn as well as emotionless. Vladek also shows traits of racism towards black people once he comes to America. Anja gives birth to Art in 1948 and she has problems with her nerves. She talks to Art about her experiences during the war, but she kills herself eventually. All of this is the outcome of the Holocaust because these people were treated in such a way only because they were Jewish and this is a monstrous act against humanity. All of this can be seen in Maus and the culmination is on this page when Anja and Vladek go towards the road shaped like the swastika which symbolizes Nazism and the fact that their road is the only road.
The page is constructed in such a way that it consists of seven panels and there is not much space between them, which suggests the tight connection between the elements of the story. The initial idea is that the Jews are free to escape: “There haven’t been any lights on in the guard-house for two nights. I think it’s safe” (Spiegelman 125).The first two frames in the upper row depict the situation where the Jews can escape from the ghetto because there are no guards left, while in the middle row, the Jews are talking about their destinations. In the bottom row, on the left, Anja and Vladek do not have where to go: “Anja and I didn’t have where to go” (Spiegelman 125). In the bottom row on the right, the story happens in the present where Vladek has a son who is an adult and wants to give him access to his safety box.
The page layout grabs attention because there are many parts of the past and the present incorporated inside of it. The weight is given by symbols, such as the swastika that represents all evil caused by humans, which is monstrous. The eye gets drawn to this part of the page which is the greatest and suggests that there is a way out, but that there are is no home anymore. The panels and gutter flow well because of the fact that they are integrated well and the story is easy to follow because of the organization. The speech balloons and the captions are clear and easy to understand because Spiegelman paid great attention to these details which is why the readers always know who the speaker is and can feel the atmosphere in each panel.
There are many important descriptions and powerful balloons which show the character’s emotions. The main characters are people who want to survive but there is a long and difficult way in front of them which they will have to conquer. However, they have already adapted to this kind of life and they are survivors. This page is interesting and admirable because of the middle panel where the readers can see Anja and Vladek from behind going in the unknown direction. They are singled out because other survivors seem to know where they are going because one of the people says: “We’ll be hiding at this address. When you find a safe place, try to contact us, Vladek” (Spiegelman 125). The survivors care about the well-being of one another. Anja and Vladek are depicted from the upper angle which implies their vulnerability and the fact that they have no shelter. There is nowhere to go and the only path is through the road in the shape of the swastika. It is clear that they are the survivors of the Holocaust, but it does not mean that they have solved all of their problems. They are alive and they have to find new life now which is going to be difficult. It can be observed from the panel that they are elegant and brave people and they are Art’s parents. They are holding hands, because their intimacy is all they have and they are probably wearing all of the clothes they possess. It is obvious that they were people who were not poor, but the Holocaust happened and made them lose their homes.
The fact that people can be killed because of belonging to a different race or religion is monstrous and has great effects on the audience especially because the story is told from the perspective of a survivor. All of the people found different places as their hideouts: “We went all in different directions” (Spiegelman 125). Art’s parents are looking for a new path in life, just like all the other survivors, but they do not have a place to stay. Art is born in 1948 and he finds out about what happened during the Holocaust from his mother because his father does not like to speak about that.
The graphic novel is a good way of telling such a story and Spiegelman uses great effects that make the readers involved in the story emotionally and it also makes them curious about learning about history from a personal perspective of a survivor. This page is fascinating because there is hope and fear, the past and the future. It depicts all the horrors that happened because of the Nazis, but it also gives hope that everything can be survived through having great personal strength.
Works Cited
Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Print.
