The Motif of Guilt

Throughout the comic book “Maus”, Spiegelman repeats the motif of guilt. Although, when most people think of guilt, it tends to be linked to the word “regret”. This type of guilt throughout the two volumes of comics is defined as “survivor’s guilt”, which is the product of both Vladek and Art’s relationships with the Holocaust. The complicated relationship between history and current life, can have an effect on an individual whether they went through a historical trauma or not. Since Art was born post war, he became that individual that ultimately grieved over his fathers past. For example, order and cleanliness was very important to Vladek in all aspects. After living in dirt and disgust literally and mentally for four years, when in a situation of mess it most likely gives him PTSD and brings him back to his times in the Holocaust. For Art, this can be a very difficult thing to understand not only when learning to cope with his father’s patterns, but when writing his comic. It’s almost  impossible to step inside another’s shoes especially when dealing with trauma, because although you can imagine through details, you can never fully understand the feeling behind it. When driving to his father’s, Art explains how he’d wish he “would have been in Auschwitz” (Spiegelman 16) with his parents so he could know “what they lived through” (Spiegelman 16). He carries around “some kind of guilt” (Spiegelman 16) upon himself knowing that he has lived the easier life. Vladek himself felt guilt too shown when explaining all the loss in his family. Him being on of the only survivors, this strong sense of guilt was often taken out on Art, the “real survivor”. In essence, Vladek’s guilt was most likely passed onto his son, which established the guilt Art continues to feel in regards to his father’s experiences in the Holocaust. So next time when you have to “step inside someone’s shoes” whether if it’s character or a peer, remind yourself that experience can’t be replicated.