Combined into one series as A Survivor’s Tale (Pantheon 1991), Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman is a work mainly focused on memories of Spiegelman’s father, Vladek Spiegelman, regarding World War II and his experience in Auschwitz. Spiegelman also revealed his personal relationship with his father as well as how the influence of war passed on to the next generation. By studying information about his personal experiences, it is possible that the case of transgenerational trauma or even a form of subconscious obsession has been shown in Spiegelman.
In “Maus I: My father bleeds history” Spiegelman gave away less information regarding personal feelings and memories, however in “Maus II: And here my trouble began” Spiegelman incorporated more personal factors in the work which gave the reader more evidence of transgenerational trauma. Spiegelman has including his father, the main character of Maus, Vladek’s death during the period publication in Maus II “Vladek died of congestive heart failure on August 18, 1982 ( Spiegelman II 41)”. Such information had a large impact on how the reader perceives the story and reveals how Spiegelman portrays his relationship with his father.
In the beginning of chapter in “Maus II”, Spiegelman introduced his own feeling of powerless when it comes to his relationship with his father and possible transgenerational trauma. Spiegelman says, “Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t obsessed with this stuff. It is just that sometimes I’d fantasize Zyklon B coming out of our shower instead of water… I know this is insane, but I somehow wish I had been in Auschwitz with my parents so I could really know what they lived through!… I guess it’s some kind of guilt about having had an easier life than they did (Spiegelman II16).”
From an article by Victoria A. Elmwood released in Biography Vol. 27, No. 4 (fall 2004) Spiegelman’s confession indicates that “the disruptions resulting from the Spiegelman family traumas take the forms of fetishes, silenced testimonials, and specters memories of the dead that continue to influence the living (Elmwood 692)”. It is no doubt that such emotional family inheritance has largely affected Spiegelman’s life.
It is also worth noting that while narrating his personal struggle, Spiegelman changed the appearance of the characters in this specific chapter from animals to humans with animal masks. There is some symbolism of pretending and hiding, since from Maus II Spiegelman has always had some form of guilt and powerlessness existing. By Including the scenes of meeting with a therapist Spiegelman indicated that, “I tried to be fair and still show how angry I am…No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much compared to surviving Auschwitz”(44). This can be considered evidence to how Spiegelman’s obsession with Auschwitz in his life was formed.
According to Elmwood, “The passing down of such personal histories becomes especially problematic and disruptive in the case of the children of traumatized individuals” (Elmwood 692). In the case of Spiegelman, such tension is evident throughout his work. However this has also undeniably lead the work to its success, as Spiegelman found the perfect balance between revealing historical memories and personal elements.