Action!
Although the stylistic choice of depicting the various
characters as animals creates a degree
of separation from the subject matter of Maus, Art Spiegelman draws the viewer
into the emotional realities of the action that he is depicting through
ingenious and irregular staging. Panel sizes do not remain consistent throughout
the book, although some pages do use the device to create a sense of plodding
linear doom. On page 34 the intense moment of Vladek arriving in Czechoslovakia
and seeing a swastika flag for the very first time is intensified further as
the panel sizes increase down the page, from the slender borderless train at
the top through the train window like boxes of the second line and exploding
finally in a oversize splash of the flag itself and the agitation it causes in
the trains passengers. We, the reader sit in the carriage with the mice, part
of the action. Enthralled as they appear to be in the image.
Excellent point David! I believe this panel was perfect for displaying Art's amazing sense of staging. It’s a powerful and important piece of the story and this panel adds to the storytelling all the more. Another good point you made was, we as the reader carriage with the mice. I couldn't agree more and you also get the sense that these mice are in total shock. The staging of the mice wrapped around this totally pitch black flag also adds significantly to the effect. Another good example of Staging/overlaying is on page 45. You see an image of Vladek in battle with the polish army, overlaid with Artie listening to his father tell the story. It makes for an interesting way to tell this story. Art uses this medium of graphic novel to its fullest and doesn’t seem to waste a panel.
ReplyDeleteKYLE LOCKREY