Page 43 of the second part of
Maus catches my attention. Art is worrying because he is going to be a father soon (he is worried that he will turn out to be like his own father. They didn't have the best relationship). Here, Art goes to a shrink, Pavel, to talk about his issues. (I picture this frame, if it were in color, to be greys, and dark colors, to have a very gloomy affect.) Pavel descriptively seems similar to that of Art's father. He is older, a survivor Jew from the Holocaust, Art's problems are associated with him (this is who Art talks to about his problems, Pavel isn't THE problem, such as Vladek tends to be for Art). It is ironic that the shrink office is overrun with dogs and cats because the characters in the novel are mice. Dogs and cats chase and scare mice. This visually can represent the fact that there are horrors following Art wherever he goes (Spiegelman even adds the blurp asking if that totally contradicts his metaphor). Also, in the first few frames, Art appears to be much smaller than the seat he is sitting in. The visual rhetoric could be that he feels inferior at this point in his life. He is propped up high because things all seem to be falling into place for him (he should feel on top of the world), yet he is so small because he feels nothing but overwhelming sadness. This could be inherited from his father, whom has a large influence on Art, as much as Art doesn't want it. This goes back to the father-son relationship. The troubles that Vladek has lived through, are slightly shining through to Art, possibly because of some guilt that Art may feel. Art claims that he just wants to cry, even though many things in his life are fitting nicely into place. Art is overwhelmed with negativity, and he can't really find an escape from it at this point. The frames on this page describe how he cannot escape. No matter where he goes, even to his shrink (which is a place to escape all issues), it still haunts him (Cats and dogs are everywhere). Art is a depressed man, just like the way the Holocaust is portrayed to be in this story. The stories that Vladek shares are gruesome (dead bodies all over the ground where Art is), and the never seize to leave Art's mind. The holocaust was a very sad event in history, and the undeniable sadness on this page depicts and signifies the misery well. Despite Spiegelman's efforts to add in the comedic blurps, there is no way of working around the fact that this serious event was a sad one.
(The dead 'mouse' bodies in the 3rd and 4th frame resemble an actual photo pretty accurately. Very, very sad that this is something that actually happened!)
https://www.google.com/search?q=Maus&client=firefox-a&hs=5Fd&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Qb5FUvWIIcr92QXIz4GoDg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1071&bih=590&dpr=1#q=holocaust+sadness&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=wM1PQpBcciNs8M%3A%3BW9WAIBKDagaicM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbp2.blogger.com%252F_akLbxNKanGc%252FR2o4Ygaoa8I%252FAAAAAAAAA80%252FEOIQ-ixieXM%252Fs1600-h%252Fholocaust%252B1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fvagabondscholar.blogspot.com%252F2007_12_01_archive.html%3B512%3B402
I really like how you draw attention to the fact that the therapist's office is filled with images of dogs and cats. I agree that the situation is very ironic since the characters of Maus are also represented by these animals; specifically, the German Nazis are represented by cats. I also agree that the representation of Art's physical size depicts his feelings of inferiority. I believe that this is caused by the fact that he never endured the Holocaust so he feels inadequate when trying to depict an even he never experienced first-hand. He also recognizes the magnitude of the Holocaust so he must feel and immense amount of pressure when trying to please all who did experience such a horrific event first-hand.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that Art feels inferior to his problems. I agree with you. I feel that Art is being portrayed as small in the frames because all of his problems may be too big for him to handle. He then feels overwhelmed, like you said, and inferior to everything. I agree with how Art cannot find an escape from his father’s memories of the Holocaust. I believe that the cats and dogs in the shrink’s office do resemble the Nazis and Americans in his comics. I feel that the cat being there means that he cannot escape the fact that the Holocaust did happen, and that it will always be there, as you said watching over him. I like that they put a dog in the frame because it resembles the Americans from the story. The Americans showed up when Vladek was freed. I feel that the dog is there because it unconsciously tells Art that the shrink can help him escape his problems with his father and the Nazis, and that there will be freedom or liberty around the corner.
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