Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The struggles and expectations of a creative
In Maus we are presented a very real/dark aspect that I feel many creatives eventually face. Being the questioning the of importance/worthiness of ones own work. We see a very real depiction of Art struggling to accept the new-found fame and attention gained. Art feels like he is essentially profiting of the suffering of many, including Vladek. On vol. 2, pg. 41, we see a very morbid scene of Art at his desk, which sits on top a mountain of dead mice. It's a very relatable scenario as we see Art questioning his creativity and worth. If you turn towards the inward jackets of both volumes, we also get a profile image of Art and how see chooses to depict himself... smoking a cigarette with a saddened mouse mask. I find this piece of imagery super meaningful because before the reader even has a chance to dive into the novel, they get a sense that Spiegelman might not be the most jolly illustrator out there. To be fair, I can't think of many that are! Being a creative comes with its own set of problems. For one, a great artist never tends to settle. They are constantly questioning their work and being super critical so we always have room to grow. With that being said, creatives often tend to be their worst critics, and even self destructive at times. I believe this often stems the struggle many creatives have with separating themselves from their work. On pg. 46, of the second volume, we see Art talking to his therapist and clearly stating that he doesn't believe he can fully capture the embodiment/spirit of Auschwitz through a visual medium. Which is a bold statement seeing as he's already gained notoriety from the success of his first volume. However, Art does not really have much of a choice if he wishes to not be labeled as a "failure" since he's already come so far. One can only imagine the amount of stress and hours that we're put into making such a memorable novel.
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The holocaust was a very traumatic experience not just for the jews that were persecuted but for everyone the world over. So much so, that the actions of the Nazi's are still well known closing in on a century later. This grief and remembrance is portrayed in Maus through the relationship between Art and Vladek. Vladek survived the holocaust but what he experienced still haunts him and this is reflected upon his son, Art. While it is mentioned in other blogs, one of the most powerful images in Maus is when Art is depicted hunched over his work desk situated on top of a pile of dead bodies. Art is trying to tell the story of his father but he feels responsible to tell the story accurately and true to all of the dead he writes about. Throughout the graphic novel we see Vladek bring up the fact that he is a survivor whereas his son did not go through the same experience as him. It is the goal of the artist to write with authority but this makes his writing more difficult. Outside of the sphere of literature Art also feels these pressures in daily life. He lives with a father who is difficult to connect with because of his extreme experience. Vladek loves his son but it is tough when he still grieves a son he lost from his past life (whose shrine adorns his bedroom). The graphic novel becomes an effective way to tell this tale because of all the visceral imagery. The novel is easier to stomach seeing dead animals (although they are anthropomorphised) than actually seeing dead and dying humans. This, however, is the same strategy employed by the Nazi's to dehumanize Jewish peoples. The graphic novel allows the reader to see the interactions between individuals which is important because this is the story of a son trying to interact with and understand his father.
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