An Emphasis on Humanity

Art Spiegelman introduces "Maus," his graphic novel, astonishingly, with a quote by Hitler:

"The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human."

Using the visual qualities of a comic book, Spiegelman disproves Hitler's racist outcry by presenting all aspects of his father's life, not just details of the Holocaust, to thoroughly prove that his Jewish father is human. The structure of Spiegelman's comic is key to emphasizing humanity: he records everything. Vladek may suddenly interrupt his story by knocking over a bottle of pills and get angry, showing that he is capable of feeling emotions. Similarly, the pictures will shift from the story to Vladek exercising on a bike while his son records, emphasizing that there is more to the life of a survivor than retelling a story; their life resumes after the war. In fact, the entire first chapter has little to no relation with the outbreak of the war; instead, the chapter concerns Vladek's love life, his encounters with Lucia and his marriage with Anna. Thus, Spiegelman expresses that Jews, like humans, can experience love.

The final page of the chapter reveals Spiegelman's intentions with yet another dialogue in the present, between Vladek and his son. Vladek protests that so far his story contains little relevance to the Holocaust itself, and he does not want it written down. Spiegelman responds, "But Pop- it's great material. It makes everything more real- more human" (23). Ironically, however, the corresponding images do present Vladek and his son as mice, but this is rather a respresentation of their oppression and persecution than their lack of humanity.