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Maus 2 Analysis

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Why Are Both Maus Books So Good?
What makes the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman so good? These graphic novels told the unique story of the author’s father, Vladek Spiegelman, and his mother, Anja Spiegelman, survival through the Holocaust. Not only did the novels tell their story, it also told the story of the father-son relationship between Art and Vladek. Through the usage of different artistic styles, Spiegelman effectively tells the story of Vladek and his relationship with Vladek by using iconic imagery, closure, and timing.
Spiegelman uses iconic imagery of the characters to tell the different stories in the book. For example, instead of drawing humans, the author illustrates them very simplistic versions of animals. …show more content…

On page 62 of Maus I, is an example of scene to scene closure. On this page, Vladek tells Spiegelman about a memory from when he was in Lublin. On the third panel, Vladek is having a discussion with a Jewish Authority member. On the next panel, the memory goes from to him going out of the tent to go to relieve himself. We know that some time has passed because Vladek narrates, “That night I went out from the tent...” (Spiegelman 62). The reader must use scene to scene closure to conclude that these two panels take place on the same night, only the second one is later in time. Another example is in Maus II, on page 65, Spiegelman makes the reader uses action-to-action closure to tell the story. On the second panel, Anja picks up a package Vladek has just thrown her. The third panel shows a kapo shouting at her, then a chase follows, going into the forth. On the fifth, she runs into building and sees a friend in the sixth. On this page, the panels are very picture specific. The dialogue doesn’t add anything to the meaning of this event, only adds detail. The reader must fill in the missing motions of this scene to get the complete image, making this action to action closure. Spiegelman makes the story interesting for readers because they create the parts of the story the author left out. By doing this, the stories can be told effectively and in an interesting

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