Questions

In chapter two of Maus II, the panels begin with Art Spiegelman is sitting at his drawing board listing facts and dates about his life and the comic he was working on. At the end of the page, the panel zooms out to take in all of Art and his drawing board, but littered around him were bodies of mice gruesomely stacked upon one another (Spiegelman 41). Why did Art Spiegelman put that in there? I wasn’t expecting that at all, and it was kind of shocking. He later shows the reporters climbing over the bodies to get to him and ask him a barrage of questions. What do the bodies represent since I don’t think they’re physically there?

Another point of interest is when Art goes to his psychiatrist. He quotes Samuel Beckett saying, “Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.” (Spiegelman 45) It feels as if Art is trying to justify not writing the book. Why does he not want to write the book? He’s been working on this for such a long time. What connection does this have with the relationship between Art’s dad and him?