Passing Down Guilt

Even though Artie did not have a first hand experience with the war, it is safe to say that he caught on to the emotional horror from his father. When Art decided to write this book on the Holocaust, I do not think he was fully aware of what he was getting himself into. It is obvious to the reader that Vladek carries guilt with him even though the Holocaust is over. I like to classify this as "survivor's guilt"; the feeling of why am I alive when everyone around me is dead.

What can make the guilt even worse is losing someone close to you. The perfect example is Vladek losing his one true love, Anja. It is difficult to wonder how you ended up making it out alive. With Artie being the only real family he has left, Vladek unintentionally passed the guilt he was feeling onto Artie. Sharing his stories and feelings of the Holocaust seems to take a toll on Artie, who finds himself suffering from "survivor's guilt" but in a much more different way than his fathers. Artie seems to feel guilty that his life has been a little more smoother than his fathers. He feels guilty for his fathers guilt, and he does not want his father to feel this way anymore. Another guilt that Arite gets from Vladek is his brother, Richieu, not being alive. Artie wonders how life would be if Richieu was alive, such as if they would get along. Similar to Vladek, Artie asks himself why Richieu is dead and not Artie himself.

Choosing to portray this story as a graphic novel was kind of a wise choice. Stories of the Holocaust, for me at least, can be hard to listen to. The way Maus is written like a comic book makes it less intimidating. The flow of the book is easy to follow, and the pictures help the reader to visualize what is being said.