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Summary Of ' Maus By Art Spiegelman Essay

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Maus by Art Spiegelman is a graphic novel about a man 's story of surviving the holocaust and the son was asking his father to tell this story. By itself this is a great story a man trying to survive the Holocaust against the odds and reunite with his lost love. Outside the simple exterior there is a dark theme of guilt that enhances the text from cover to cover. This theme of guilt is something that can be seen throughout the story, in a surprising number of times and an even more surprising number of ways.
The Spiegelman family, Vladek, Anja, and Art present numerous signs of guilt. This characterization of guilt is all intentionally and artistically interwoven into the story by Spiegelman, and can be seen repeatedly throughout the graphic novel, because this is such an overwhelming aspect of his relationship with his family. Some of these representations of guilt are visual spotlights, stripes, and the sizes of characters. In addition, the actions of characters in the background, as well as the colors of the frames portray an overarching feeling of guilt.
The stripes, for example, are evocative of prison cell bars equating to the idea of being an emotional prisoner and the color black symbolizes guilt, deceit and secrecy that will come up throughout the book. We will look at this symbolism and how it is portrayed by looking at the individual members of the Spiegelman family.
Let’s first look more closely at Vladek; he is an intelligent resourceful and stubborn man who

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