Historical Context Growing up

Historical Context of Growing up

Art Spiegelman,born February 15, 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden, and soon immigrated with his family to the United States in 1951, settling in Rego Park, New York. After World War 2 in 1945, it wasn't until 1948 legislation was passed, did American Immigration finally begin to allow an increase of DP (Displaced persons) into the US. “By 1952, 137,450 Jewish refugees (including close to 100,000 DPs) had settled in the United States. The amended 1948 law was a turning point in American immigration policy and established a precedent for later refugee crises. [1]” This is when the Spiegelman family moved to America. This is important to take into account that Art grew up in a time where many Jewish people felt displaced, which is why I believe that Art felt so concerned with finding out about his parent's trails through world war 2. Being born after the atrocities of World War 2, when the effects where so fresh, but still being ignored by the world at large, must have filled Art with a dire need to find out what really happened, and understand how anyone could possible survive such a tragedy.

One of the worst obstacles facing survivors of such catastrophes, is guilt. World War 2 left the world with a generation of survivors, those who saw friends, families, and communities shattered from what they were before. Those of Jewish descent experienced that more then most, as they were the main target of Nazi oppression, and suffered beyond human endurance. Those who survived, where left with little but the question, “why?”. In Maus, this;“form of guilt found in the pages of Maus is more thematically complex. This guilt, called "survivor's guilt," is the product of both Vladek and Art's relationships with the Holocaust. Much of Maus revolves around this relationship between past and present, and the effects of past events on the lives of those who did not experience them (see below). In the cases of both men, this relationship often manifests itself as guilt.” [2] Art Spiegelman main source was his brother Richieu. While trying to escape Nazi persecution, Art's parents sent their first born away in hopes he would be safe with his aunt. Tragically, he was poisoned by the person who was to keep him safe. Art grew up “having a sibling rivalry with a snapshot!”[3, pg 14] Many families had to start anew, as not even children where safe from the Nazi agenda. I believe this was the driving force in Art's motivations of wanting to write about what happened. He was the son who got to live, only because he was born later. This page was extremely moving to me, being the middle child of three boys, it made me think of how much my life growing up with my brothers influenced me, and how surreal it would be having to compete with someone, not for their accomplishments, but for their potential.

Comic at the time while he was writing this were also never taken seriously. One of Art Spiegelman's greatest accomplishments was giving credibility to the genre. “The success of Maus was not just an individual achievement for Spiegelman, it was also created an opening for the form. If your bookstore has a graphic novel section, Spiegelman is the one cartoonist who deserves credit.”[4]. Having this serious story told through unconventional means adds to the accomplishments of it's success. Not only was he true to his father's story, with the honesty of his writing, but he was also true to himself, but ignoring the publishers who had turned him down, and told the story in the medium he loved.

"Holocaust History." United States Policy Toward Jewish Refugees, 1941–1952. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094>. [1]

"Maus Themes." Grade Saver. 13 Nov. 2012 <HTTP://www.gradesaver.com/maus/study-guide/major-themes/>. [2]

Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A survivor's tale : And here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. [3]

Influences

"The Globe and Mail." The Globe and Mail. 8 Oct. 2011. 25 Nov. 2012 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/metamaus-by-art-spiegelman/article556362/> [4]