Passing Down Knowledge in Maus

In Maus II, Art continues to press his father for information about the Holocaust. However, there is one point where it gets too much for Art and he pleads not to hear anymore. This occurs when Vladek describes the Jews in the gas chambers, “their fingers were broken from trying to climb up the walls… and sometimes their arms were as long as their bodies, pulled for the sockets” (71). Although Art wants to hear as much as he can about his father’s experiences in Auschwitz, learning about them is extremely painful for him. By using a framed story structure and graphic novel form with animals instead of humans, the reader is able to digest Vladek’s story more easily. The graphic novel makes the narrative more accessible, especially to those who would not generally choose to read about the Holocaust. In using cartoons as opposed to photographs, for the most part, Spiegelman removes the shock factor and level of disgust and horror that may turn some readers away. In regards to the traumas of the Holocaust getting passed from father to son; Vladek becomes increasingly dependant on Art and Vladek’s frugal ways irritate Art. Nonetheless, the trauma that Vladek experiences is described to Art and noted by him but not exactly passed down to him. Art is certainly affected by the Holocaust though he cannot experience the same trauma that plagues Vladek as his information is secondhand.