Blurring the Lines Between Past and Present

Maus focuses on Vladek’s reflection of the past and how the past and present converge. When Vladek revisits old family photos, the photos converge on Vladek and Artie on the last panel; this emphasizes how the past meets the present. No matter how hard Vladek tries to move on from his past, he will always remember his experiences in the Holocaust. Vladek even says, “All such things of the war, I tried to put out of my mind once and for all … Until you rebuild me all this from your questions” (Spiegelman 98). Furthermore, Spiegelman shows the parallels between past and present by comparing Josef with Artie; Josef killed himself out of grief similar to Artie’s emotional regret for coldly responding to his mom the last time he saw her. Even in the picture of Josef and Sonia together, there is a hole where Sonia’s face should be; this draws attention to Artie’s mom’s death. By paralleling the past and the present, Spiegelman demonstrates the circular pattern in life; the present will repeat the past. Similarly, the world’s history is riddled with accounts of genocide, elucidating human’s inability to change—people will continue to repeat the past

Centering the page with Levek’s photo, Spiegelman gives importance to Levek in relation to Vladek's life. Vladek gave money to Levek to help him return to Warsaw; however, Vladek sent him to his death, overcasting the present with the guilt of indirectly killing Levek. In addition, all the photos require a lot of ink. In order for Artie to rebuild his father’s history, Vladek has to go through a bloodletting, being reminded of his guilty actions. Vladek goes through this painful process just to recount his stories for Artie, emphasizing his care for his child. This highlights how family members are an integral part of one’s life. Vladek’s dead family members cause him grief, but he wishes they are alive like Artie. By trying to control Artie’s life, Vladek hangs on to the only family member he has left.

At the bottom of the page, Spiegelman piles up the photos to emphasize the amount of memories Vladek has to live with. The fact that the photos fall demonstrates the weighty nature of memories—not just physically but also emotionally. Vladek has to live with the fact that so many of his family members died and that he survived partly from luck; the survivor’s guilt lingers in Vladek’s life, forcing him to be unable to live life like how it was before his traumatizing experiences. Furthermore, by having the photos over the present day panel, Spiegelman underscores how the past is eating into his present. The little space left that shows the present demonstrates the little amount of freedom Vladek has to control his own life without recollecting the past.

“The Holocaust, taken by itself, is a black hole. To look at it directly is to be swallowed up by it.”-David Novak