The Motivation and Intent Behind "Maus"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the purpose and intent of Art Spiegelman's books "Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History" and "Maus: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began". The paper discusses the intensely personal side of the story and suggests that it tells a great deal about Spiegelman's motivations for creating these books. It discusses the themes and emotions that he reveals in the books.

From the Paper:

"When considering Art Spiegelman's books Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History and Maus: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began, the reader twice asks, "Why did Art Spiegelman write these?" That is, the reader wonders what purpose Spiegelman hoped his books would serve, and what personally drove Spiegelman to write the books in the first place. Though related, these are two different questions. These books are very personal works that not only chronicle his father's experiences as a Jew in Poland during WWII, but also reveal "Artie's" struggles to relate to his father. The intensely personal side of the story tells a great deal about Spiegelman's motivations for creating these books; this aspect is about Artie. Yet clearly purpose of the books is not to tell Artie's story, but to tell Vladek's."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bosmajian, Hamida. "The Orphaned Voice in Art Spiegelman's Maus I & II." Literature and Psychology 44. 1-2 (January 1998);
• Elmwood, Victoria A. "Happy, Happy Ever After: The Transformation of Trauma Between the Generations in Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale." Biography 27. 4 (Fall 2004): 691
• Jones, Malcolm. "High Art. (cartoonist Art Spiegelman)(Interview). Newsweek (August 2004): 51

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