The Swastika In Maus A Survivor's Tale

The story Maus a Survivors Tale is an impassioned story shared from the perspective of a holocaust survivor’s son, Art Spieglman, as he listened to his father’s story. Spieglman’s father, Vladek Spiglman, shares his extraordinary story to his son, giving them both a sense of closure to the horrifying events that happened to their family. In book one of two, Vladek and his wife, Anja, are traveling on a train and gaze out their window to see for the first time ever the swastika. On page 32 of distress, Spieglman uses multiple points of view over a short moment of time to display the setting and emotion the scene holds. Despite the page being a major turning point in the story, little words are needed to describe the scene and the swastika is

The drawings on the page aren’t very detailed, but there are a few interesting features. In the second panel of the action-to-action transition, to the far right there is a pig, symbolizing a Polish man, sitting and not looking out the window. Only the mice, which Spieglman uses to symbolize the Jewish people, are staring out the window. Since the Polish man is not, it is very noticeable how the Nazi flag only caught the attention of the Jewish people. Another interesting detail in the illustrations is the choice of shading. Inside the train, the characters and setting are sketched dark and have harsh lines. In the scene where the mice are looking out the window, the outside is bright and clear except for the flag and the outside of the swastika. The choice of shading really makes the flag stand out and casts a dark shadow over the mice inside the train. With scene-to-scene, action-to-action, and moment-to-moment panels, page 32 in Maus is when Vladek sees the swastika for the first time. The page is a huge turning point in Vladek’s story. Few words are needed to be written because the Nazi flag has made a name for itself in symbolizing horror. The dark and minor detailing draws the reader in, and makes them feel the emotion this icon has on the characters and the rest of Spiegelman’s father’s