Maus

Maus must be considered one of the most powerful comics ever written. Art Spiegelman's portrayal of his father's story was truly a masterful work of art. Spiegelman seems to put a lot of personal experiences into his work. This is part of the reason why I believe it was such a successful and truly popular graphic narrative. The story is based on Art Spiegelman's attempt to unravel the history of his parent's struggles through the holocaust. It seems like Art Spiegelman throws his heart into Maus which I feel makes it much more relatable to everyone who reads it. That's the best thing about Maus everyone seems to be able to relate to it in some way or another. I felt a strong connection to the characters within the pages of the comic and I believe everyone who reads it does as well. Even though the book revolves around anthropomorphic animals it is still a very personal read, and besides, who doesn't love cute animals. This story was downright depressing at times and at the same time, very uplifting. Since none of the characters in the book are actually human I believe it makes it easier to feel for them. A reader does not have to think about what type of person they are. In Maus they would only look into the human like characteristics and personality traits that make the characters so relatable to us.

As a Jew this story really hit home with me. I could really understand everything that was being said and the pain that Art Spiegelman's parents must have went through. I grew up knowing a married couple of holocaust survivors. I've seen their pain first hand that still sticks with them 50 to 60 years later. Knowing this couple and having them as a very prominent and important part of my childhood this made the feelings in Maus that much more believable. The strained father son relationship was also very believable to me because with the survivors I knew they were going through a very similar situation with their son. I believe that their pain must have just been so immense it must have been hard to bring yourself close to anyone. I don't think these people could handle any more pain in there lifetime. Having this situation engrained in my head helped me feel a very personal connection to Maus.

Maus is one of the greatest and most groundbreaking graphic novels ever written. It was pretty much flawless. I find many things about other graphic narratives to have problems. To put it bluntly I'm a picky reader but I felt such a strong personal connection to Art Spiegelman's story that it was hard to not be amazed by it.