Chapter 2, Maus II

For me, one of the most impressive chapters of the “Maus” series is Chapter 2, Part II. I think most of the power and artistry of “Maus” is on display in this chapter – the “inside-outside” dynamic of Vladek’s story and the struggle between father and son, Art Spiegelman’s own conflict in producing this story, and the effective mix of narrative and artwork.

Of course, you get a real sense of foreboding heading into this chapter with the title (“Auschwitz (time flies)”), the disturbing picture of the mice in flames, and the flies spread here and there outside the frame of the picture, but Spiegelman goes somewhere very different when he begins the chapter with a frank discussion of his own struggles with his writing, the publicity and questions generated by his first book, and critical forays into therapy. He also starts the chapter hidden behind the mask of his own creation, caught in his own world, fighting off the flies swarming about him.

As the narrative continues, you can see Spiegelman literally shrink in size, before he rises up to the task, gaining enough from his mice-masked therapist to head back into the story. Chapter 2 concerns itself with many of the details of the struggle to stay alive, the compromises and deals Vladek makes along the way in an attempt to keep in touch with Anja, and even one of more interesting conflicts of the story, where Art and Vladek have a back and forth over the Auschwitz orchestra (the artwork here frames this conflict nicely, with the phalanx of prisoners showing the orchestra, and then hiding it when the father disputes its existence).

The final details of the chapter are all too powerful, as they focus in on the “cremo building,” and the burning of bodies, which brings us full circle to the title page, and what we’ve been building up to for the length of the book, a steady gaze into the blackness. But there’s a last touch here that I found very interesting – after Vladek has gone to bed and Art and Francoise are on the porch, the author attempts one more level, literally and figuratively killing the flies on the porch (a disturbing reminder of the Zyklon B pesticide that we’ve just read about) but also putting to rest any last doubts that this story will be completed. Spiegelman has slain the last dragon of doubt in his mind, it seems, and will bring the rest of this story forth into the world.