This past week in class, we have analyzed how the structure and aesthetics of MAUS contributes to its message on war’s horrors. One theme we have discussed is how MAUS’s visual elements transmit memory. Indeed, in his book MetaMaus, Spiegelman states that “the subject of MAUS is the retrieval of memory and ultimately, the creation of memory” (73). This is clearly seen in I.110, when Vladek tells Art how he created a hiding spot out of his coal storage cellar in Srodula. He takes draws for Art an exact picture of this hiding spot, saying how “such things it’s good to know exactly how was it”. We then get a large scale picture of the cellar on Art’s notebook, with detailed descriptions. Vladek further describes the cellar on the right, giving the reader more information. The present scene then changes to the actual event in the past, depicting Vladek and his family hiding in the cellar while Nazi soldiers searched his house. As Spiegelman pointed out, this transition from present to past resulted from Vladek’s retrieval of the memory and his re-creation of it. Vladek’s recalls the traumas of war in the present, as shown in how he draws the picture for Art. However, this retrieval of memory ultimately led to the re-creation of it in Art’s comic book, where the visual elements propel readers back in time to the actual narrated event. Indeed, the retrieval and creation of memory depicted through the comic’s aesthetics portrays the process of memory transition.

Since it transmits memory, MAUS acts as a link from the present to the past. In her article, McGlothlin states that although its visual elements demarcates the past from the present, it also connects the two, especially through narration. She claims that these visual images act as a supplement to the narration, relating to a problem where “the present and the past are intimately interconnected” (178). This is shown in II.25, when Vladek tells Art about how he and Anja got separated after arriving in Auschwitz. In a panel depicting an angry German’s face, Vladek describes how he had to say good-bye to Anja as the men and women were separated. However, the scene quickly jumps back to the present again. The next four panels depicts Vladek vehemently telling Art how he and Anja were never truly separated, since they were together before and after the war. The panel of the Nazi’s angry face, abruptly inserted in the midst of Vladek’s narration, reminds us of how the past and present intercepts in MAUS. Therefore, not only does MAUS portray comics as a transmission of memory, but also a bridge between the past and present.

McGlothlin, Erin. No Time like the Present: Narrative and Time in Art Spiegelman’s “Maus”. Narrative. Vol. 11, No. 2 (May 2003) Pg 177-198. Published by: Ohio State University Press. Article URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20107309?seq=2

Spiegelman, Art. MetaMaus. 1st ed. Toronto: Random House of Canada, Ltd., 2011. 73. Print.