Storytelling in Maus

Art Speigelman's Maus presents a biographical account of the Holocaust in the form of a graphic novel. It is peculiar in that much of the novel offers a kind of meta-storytelling: In the present, the character of Artie Speigelman collects the stories of his grandfather, and formulates the story he intends to illustrate. This narrative style creates a remarkable dichotomy between Vladek's narration of his history and Art's depiction of it. On the one hand, Vladek's words are matter-of-fact and unemotional, perhaps owing to his inevitable desensitization to the horrors of the Holocaust and the buffer of time. On the other hand, Speigelman's illustrations are at times grotesque and vivid, and the dialogue between characters emotionally charged.

This narrative style also allows for the characters of the present to interrupt, interject, and truncate the storytelling rhythm. Such interjections make the story more intimate, almost conversational, despite their narrative disjointedness. Thus we as readers have a context, not within the nightmarish setting of Vladek's ghetto, but rather within the safe confines of his New York living room. Just as with Art, we are able to immerse ourselves in his trying experience without forfeiting the security of the present. Nevertheless, Speigelman's illustrations reveal that the story has great emotional force despite these comforts.

Artie's interjections also allow the reader to be put in dialogue with the storyteller. Much of Vladek's narration takes for granted the horrors and absurdities that were ubiquitous in Poland during World War II. Therefore, Artie is able to act as a kind of liaison, exploring the elements of his father's experience that may likely surprise the reader as well.

Finally, Maus depicts the reconciliatory power of storytelling. In this case, Artie's dialogue with his father eases their estrangement and fosters empathy between the two. On a larger scale, perhaps Art Speigelman is suggesting that these stories can reconcile even estranged populations. The story depicts every character as belonging to a particular species, indicating irreconcilable perspectives and heritages. Yet just as Artie overcomes a generational discrepency as well as his own familial conflicts through his father's story, such stories may likewise humanize our enemies and endear to us those who are strangers. Maus is certainly about brutality of the Nazi regime and the horrors of the Holocaust. But it is moreso about storytelling, and the universality of humanity.