Karma

One of the most intriguing aspects of Maus is that Spiegelman does not go out of his way to portray the character of his father in any way that could be considered sympathetic. From the very first chapter we see the emotional distance between the father and son, the reasons why become apparent very quickly.  Vladek is not a particularly nice person. He is unpleasant to his new wife and overbearing to his son. He embodies the stereotypical frugal, money obsessed Jew, which is problematic for the author who does not wish to turn his father into a caricature, but is forced to do so. We see the negative aspects of his character early on, in his relationship with Lucia, whom he spurned, mostly due to her lack of money, instead choosing the plainer, shier Anja, who was extremely well to do.  This is depicted early on in the novel, and conveys a great deal about Vladek, and serves to make him extremely dislikeable as a person. Over the course of the story there are further anecdotes and instances that make him seem unpleasant.

The depiction of Vladek’s character is not a flattering one. Yet as objectionable as he is, he does not deserve the treatment all Jew’s faced during this period. The oppression, cruelties and eventual incarceration, torture and murder at the hands of the Nazis. Vladek, for all his many faults is a person that did not deserve those atrocities, and I think that is the point Spiegelman is attempting to convey in this graphic novel. In spite of the illustrations depicting the characters as animals, they are all very much human.