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Maus Spiegelman Quotes

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Experiences hold power to shape people mentally, emotionally, and physically, which then leads them to find coping mechanisms, whether consciously or subconsciously. Anja Spiegelman sought release from her tormented memories of the Holocaust through suicide, which left Vladeck to bare the memories himself. His coping mechanisms include drawing for his son’s graphic novel and sharing his experiences. Art Spiegelman, the son of Holocaust survivors, sought peace with survivor’s guilt through art. He constructed Prisoner on the Hell Planet and then the graphic novel Maus as a method to understand the divide between his parents and him, as well as to piece together his family history. Spiegelman utilizes personal photos, a former comic, and a quote to add a visual representation of emotions to what appears at first glance a cartoon story. …show more content…

On page 104, one person exclaimed, “Now you cry! Better you cried when your mother was still alive!” Spiegelman responded in the comic with, “I felt nauseous…. The guilt was overwhelming!” By acknowledging the blame, Spiegelman liberates himself from the inner demons that plague him regarding his mother’s suicide. Finally, the last page of the comic in panel two depicts a combined image of Anja’s suicide, a pile of Jew’s bodies, a child in a concentration camp uniform, Spiegelman with his head in his hand, and a knife cutting the wrist of Anja’s arm. The words “Menopausal Depression,” “Hitler did it,” “Mommy,” and “Bitch” light the image with jarring expressions, while at the top of the panel Spiegelman states, “…But for the most part, I was left alone with my thoughts” (105). Spiegelman employs the imagery and words to prove that he was left to bear the thoughts regarding the Holocaust and Anja’s death alone. To process his thoughts, the Prisoner on the Hell Planet comic served as a coping

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