One of the most peculiar moments in all of Maus II, is illustrated in the last few frames of Chapter Two. After another long day of Vladek’s constant bickering and overwhelming Holocaust stories, Francoise and Art sit on the porch. Francoise sighs, “It’s so peaceful here at night. It’s almost impossible to believe Auschwitz ever happened” (74.6). Just as she says this, Art notices a swarm of pesky flies. Art decides to spray the flies with some form of pesticide, a gas. There is sheer irony depicted here. The story Vladek had relayed to the two of them that day included a detailed description of the unspeakably vile gas chambers. And now, Art is spraying the poor, innocent bugs with gas. The two then rise and leave the dying flies to suffer. What did the poor flies ever do to Art or Francoise? Nothing. They were just “in the way” just as the Jews were in relation to the Nazis during the Holocaust. This is a quite cruel and dark comparison, between two extremely different events when it comes to severity, nevertheless this “Miniature Massacre” still bears resemblance to the real gas chambers in Auschwitz.
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