Experiencing the Past, Bicycling, and by Cycling

On page 72 of the second book of Maus, Spiegelman contributes to the idea of Vladek constantly reliving his past in a cycle. In the first panel of the page, Vladek and another guy are working. However, Vladek is the only one out of the two who is holding a cylindrical tube as a car wheels by. These circular objects represent the constant loop that Vladek is experiencing as he loops in and out of his past and present. In fact, in panel three, the scene loops back to the present with Vladek talking about the present. He likens the past cremation pits to the current swimming pools. As he talks about the “train after train”- which is a repetitive, looping phrase- the scene cycles back to the past. The next two panels are formed out of a similar structure. There is, on top, a phrase and then the image with a text box inside of it. As the reader, we must jump from Vladek’s narration outside of the picture back into the picture to read the scene that is being described in the past. Once again, this contributes to the idea of Vladek constantly reliving his past horrific experiences as he drifts in and out of reality. This is even a sign of his PTSD, as one of the symptoms include “reliving or experiencing the trauma” (anxietybc.com). Unfortunately for Vladek, he is stuck in this never-ending loop of his past because it is molten in him just as strongly as burning of the bodies.

Mice run in hamster wheels. They always continue running and passing time, but they never go anywhere. They just have to keep staying in the same place all the time while reliving their little cycle. 

Like Vladek the Maus.

Maus is Inhuman(e)

Often when I read a book, I imagine what it would be like to be the characters and live in their time. For instance, in The Great Gatsby, I would imagine being Gatsby and living in an extravagant house trying to find Daisy. Or I would imagine being Myrtle and fleeing Wilson only to get ripped open by a car. It's morbid, but I can still imagine it. Usually these scenes can come easily to me. Nick and Jordan conversing at a party comes naturally to me. Gatsby's death was a bit more difficult because he was unaware of what exactly was happening to him. In the end though, I could still picture being in his place. However in Maus, I can barely imagine any of it. It might be the pictures the idea that everybody is an animal, but the events in the book are all so unimaginable. Of course this is a real story based off of real people and places and events, but just having characters like Vladek portrayed as mice, I can't even imagine the scenarios he describes himself being in. I'm unable to even conjure up the idea of a Nazi officer throwing my hat away and shooting me as I race to get it. It might be because I've already seen the comic picture and can't un-see the animal characters, or it's just too inhumane of an act to possibly even imagine. It really gives in to the idea that during this time, unspeakable and unbelievable things occurred. Seeing as how Animal Farm turned out, everything is in utter chaos when everybody turns into animals. The pigs in Animal Farm, parallel to the cats in Maus have created a vicious jungle. 

I can only see Art as he is on the top, not the bottom.