“A remarkable work, fantastic in its conception and execution...at once a novel, a documentary, a memoir, and a comic. Brilliant, simply brilliant.”-Jules Feiffer (1)This is a comment by Jules Feiffer on “Maus”, which is a survivor's tale created by Art Spiegelman. As you can see from the commentary, this is a wonderful story, not only for the writing but also for the art. The author made the story interesting that attracts many readers by changing many things from the first 3-page version of Maus. To analyze this story, first of all, we need to understand how it was written. Spiegelman focuses on many things in this story and the events of the 1940s made them connected. In chapter 1, Vladek is a cold man; he could have broken up with Lucia just for money reasons. “Money can buy everything” seems to be the reasoning of this chapter. Because of the money he would marry Anja, whom he did not love. The focus at this point is not only on Vladek's characteristics but also on a new beginning for Vladek, it would change many characteristics. In chapter 2 we see that Vladek took care of Anja when she got sick. Hysterics is an illness that can be cured not only with medicine but also with the spirit. Anja couldn't feel at ease if Vladek wasn't by her side. I think Vladek did everything for Anja because of his true love. I agree that this love started because of money, but it grew into true love. If Vladek didn't love Anja, he wouldn't leave his job at the company to go to a sanatorium. Not only in this chapter, but also in many subsequent chapters, many difficulties appear that they have to endure. Vladek did everything to protect Anja from being killed by the Gestapo. What a difficult time for them. When Anja... in the center of the paper... it is easy for the author to show Vladek's emotions when talking about the past. To balance, the author makes sense when he establishes a connection between writing and art. In the art the emotion of the characters, the background and what was happening is shown. Many young readers who have never experienced the 1940s in Europe can clearly understand through art the difficult conditions of the Jews at the time. In conclusion, it is a beautiful story not only in writing but also in art. It talks a lot about the past, about life in Europe in the 1940s, but it doesn't bore the reader. Reading this book is not just learning literature but also learning history. The success of the story comes from the balance between writing and art. Works cited(1) on the last page of Maus' book.(2): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Europe (28/8/2012, 18:00)