Book Review: The Complete Maus

Warning: Adult Content

When Maus was first published in the 1980’s, readers were shocked. Not only was it a graphic novel – before graphic novels were a thing – but it dealt with the Holocaust in comic book form. There were many skeptics; such a serious topic had never been put into such an informal style before. But the author, Art Spiegelman, blew everyone away.

May 8, 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day. Allied soldiers and citizens celebrated – World War II was over, at least mostly. Germany had surrendered. The day commemorates the end of a war which left many longing for its end. So many atrocities were committed, only some of which Spiegelman writes about in Maus.

This book is definitely not for children. As you may guess, there is a lot of disturbing content related to the Holocaust. However, even after that introduction, I still highly recommend reading Maus. Not because it’s uplifting, but because the story is important, well-written, and thought-provoking. I loved it in the most miserable sort of way.

Spiegelman is so honest and real. It’s like reading two stories at once: one about Art’s relationship with his father, and one about his dad’s experience during WWII. Spiegelman’s father, Vladek, speaks with an accent, and his inaccurate grammar and quirks – both the endearing and annoying – are all included. Art doesn’t gloss over anything, writing about his rocky relationship with his dad, up to Vladek’s outright racism towards blacks. The honesty made it very real.

Looking at black and white drawings of animal-headed figures makes you think about the issues in a different way too. Someone who might not usually want to learn about the Holocaust might read Maus because it’s a graphic novel. And someone put off by the visuals in something like Schindler’s List might be willing to read this instead.

The use of animals heads makes it digestible. Seeing human faces going through those horrific situations would be more disturbing. The Jews are mice – prey, eaten and chased by cats. Germans are the sneaky, predator cats. Poles are non-Kosher pork-eaters, shown by their depiction as pigs. Americans are dogs –good-hearted, but too bull-headed. And the French are frogs, coinciding with a derogatory slur for the French, perhaps because of their ambivalence towards the Jews.

There were so many crimes depicted in this book, it would be difficult to pin down one that horrified me the most. However, there is one line that I won’t forget.

Spiegelman is talking to Pavel, a Holocaust survivor and his psychiatrist. They are talking about the Holocaust and Spiegelman’s upcoming sequel to Maus I. They address the guilt of surviving and whether there was value in another book about Auschwitz. Pavel says, “I’m not talking about your book now, but look at how many books have already been written about the Holocaust. What’s the point? People haven’t changed… Maybe they need a newer, bigger Holocaust,” (Maus, panel 4, 205).

That perhaps is the scariest part of the book. Not the brutality of humans towards other humans, but the chance that we haven’t learned our lesson. That the stories are being forgotten, ignored, and replaced. That the horrific truth of the Holocaust is fading with every survivor who dies, with every story that lies dusty on a library shelf.

Pavel’s words suggest that society is no longer shocked by the Holocaust’s atrocities; they have become used to its horrors and need something new to shock them into action. 

We need to remember these stories. I strongly recommend this book, but for a mature, older crowd.