Numbers

In this passage, Spiegelman uses both images and words to draw spirituality, hope, and imprisonment together, and thus conveys a strong message--in times of darkness and struggle, people seek to pin their desires onto symbolic objects, even those out of their control. 

The arrival of the priest into Vladek's life provides a sense of support and comfort.  Although the priest himself isn't even a Jew, the words he provides to Vladek instill in the young prisoner a faith, and a continued will, to continue fighting for survival.  

Ironically, the numbers on Vladek's arm were not traditionally mean't as a symbol of hope.  They drew their beginnings as dehumanizing figures, symbols meant to marginalize the Jews as a race.  However, the priest offers Vladek more than saintly advice--he also allows Vladek to convert the dehumanizing numbers into powerful symbols of freedom. Vladek "started to believe"(Spiegelman) in his "very good omen"(Spiegelman).

It is this contrast and juxtaposition that seems to characterize Spiegelman's message throughout the book. In its pages, the good and the evil of both sides merge, and hope to extend their wills by forcing it on to others.  The identity of symbols, such as those on the prisoner's arms, are as important in the book as the people themselves.  They are the lifeblood of the survivors, the hope that flows through their veins.  

-Chris

Unorthodox Opinion

Unorthodox Opinion: from the entire book, this was my favorite part of Maus:

              Of course, from first glance, an opinion like this may seem a bit strange.  After all, the vast majority of Maus focuses on Vladek's story, and the Holocaust, and it deliberately refrains from addressing consumerism and fame as a social issue like those in the pages above.  But when I read these two pages, I really felt how poignant they were.  I was moved by the author's intentions, but more importantly, all that wasn't intended by the story.  And this passage really underlines that distinction:

1. The desk on the corpses (Spiegelman 41):  This image underscores the author's true motivations and thoughts about the story.  His writing builds off of the horrible tragedies, the unspeakable truths of history.  His writing is inspired by the past.

2.  The flies (Spiegelman 41):  The flies haunt Art constantly while writing.  They are a reminder of the souls lost during the holocaust, a sobering reminder to honor their stories and lives. It represents how inherently tainted and evil the bulk of the story is, and the worst parts of human nature that he must portray.

3.  The masks (Spiegelman 42):  The businessmen, with their masks, are the consumerist, opportunistic, profiteers who wish to use Art's work for their own sake.  They hide their true intentions by wearing a mask, and putting on a superficial facade.

4.  The aging (Spiegelman 41-42): Personally, the most touching motif in these two pages.  The attention and fame that Art receives causes him to revert back to his childhood, and restores the vulnerability to evil that now pose a threat to him.  

When the businessmen demand to hear Art's interpretation of his stories, they fail to see that Art had no real intentions or personal opinions.  To him, Maus is a story that dares to reach the unspeakable, and attempts to reach truth under the stifled stories of millions.  Adding a single interpretation would be grossly inappropriate, and it would discount the enormity of the tragedy, the Holocaust.

Absolutely life-changing.

~Chris