Of Maus and Metaphors

     On page 43 of the graphic novel Maus, Art Spiegelman further expands his mouse metaphor. Art now appears as a child, illustrated through how small he appears in his chair, as he states that "sometimes [he doesn't] feel like a functioning adult." This depicts his mental regression caused by his deep immersion in the past and worries about the future. Here, the mouse metaphor serves to represent not only his Jewish heritage, but also his current unstable state of mind. Art continues to mix the past and the future, as he discusses how he is going to be a father in a few months, then recalls how his "father's ghost still hangs over [him]." He then mentions that he is going to his appointment with a therapist, implying how haunted he is by his fathers tales of the Holocaust. The fact that his therapist is "a Czech Jew" and "a survivor of Terezin and Auschwitz" further indicates that Art is seeing him for help with dealing with the Holocaust. This is reinforced with an image of him walking to the therapist's office, surrounded by the bodies of dead Jewish people, similar to the capms at Auschwitch. Thus, by using his mouse metaphor to illustrate himself as child, and surrounding the images of himself with those of the past, Art Speigelman is demonstrating the fluidity of time. Through his combination of words and images, he proves that events from the past have a large capability to affect people in the future.