“A remarkable work, impressive in its conception and execution… at once novel, documentary, memoir and comic strip. Brilliant, simply brilliant. » -Jules Feiffer (1) This is a commentary by Jules Feiffer on "Maus", which is a survivor's tale created by Art Spiegelman. As you can see from the commentary, this is a wonderful story, not only in terms of writing but also in terms of art. The author has made the story interesting which attracts many readers by changing many things from the first 3 page version of Maus. To analyze this story, we must first understand the writing of this story. Spiegelman focuses on many things in this story and the events of the 1940s tie them together. In chapter 1, Vladek is a cold man; he might break up with Lucia just because of money. “Money can buy everything” seems to be the reasoning of this chapter. Because of the money, he would marry Anja, whom he did not love. At this point, the focus is not only on Vladek's characteristics but also on a new start for Vladek, it would change many characteristics. In chapter 2 we see that Vladek took care of Anja when she fell ill. Hysteria is a disease that can be cured not only by medicine but also by the mind. Anja couldn't be comfortable if Vladek wasn't by her side. I think Vladek did everything for Anja because of his true love. I agree that this love started because of money, but it became true love. If Vladek didn't love Anja, he wouldn't give up his corporate job to go to the sanitarium. Not only in this chapter but also in many subsequent chapters, many difficulties that they must endure appear. Vladek did everything to prevent Anja from being killed by the Gestapo. What a difficult time for them. When Anja ...... middle of paper ...... it is easy for the author to show Vladek's emotions when talking about the past. To balance, the author makes it reasonable when he makes a connection between writing and art. The art shows the emotion of the characters, the background and what was happening. Many young readers who have never experienced the 1940s in Europe can clearly understand through art the difficult conditions in which Jews lived at that time. In conclusion, it is a good story not only on the written level but also on the artistic level. He talks a lot about the past, about life in the 1940s in Europe, but he doesn't bore the reader. Reading this book is not only learning literature, but also learning history. The success of the story comes from the balance between the writing and the art. Works cited (1) on the last page of Maus's book. (2): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Europe (28/8/2012, 6 p.m.00)