Frame-By-Frame Analysis: The First Ten

¶ … Frame-by-Frame Analysis:

The first ten opening panels in the graphic novel Maus: A survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman

The Holocaust is perhaps the most horrific event ever recorded in the history of humankind. It seems to transcend the power of words and images to depict the horror. Yet one of the most innovative graphic novels of recent memory is Maus: A survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman. Since its publication in 1991, Maus has been considered one of the most ground-breaking treatments of both the Holocaust because of its use of graphic illustrations to depict serious themes. Maus, in comic book form, renders the history of the Holocaust as seen through the eyes of the young protagonist Artie (the cartoonist himself) as he talks to his father about surviving the Holocaust. The novel evolves in a series of flashbacks, alternating between past and present. This paper will analyze Maus' first pages in a frame-by-frame sequence, examining how its unusual format (an apparent juxtaposition of tone with the subject matter) adds new insight into the history of the Holocaust and racism overall.

Frame 1

In Frame 1, the reader is starkly and suddenly introduced to the most eye-catching convention of Maus: its rendition of human beings into animals as it attempts to relate the details of the Holocaust and history of World War II. The Jews are portrayed as mice; the Nazis are cats; gentile Poles are pigs. The first frame looks as if it was ripped from the pages of a 1940s newspaper which used to boast serial comics like Little Orphan Annie and Dick Tracy that advanced various story lines through realistic images. "I went out to see my father in Rego Park -- I hadn't seen him in a long time -- we weren't close" reads the first frame, setting the scene of the contemporary portion of the tale. The voice-over narrative is not dissimilar from the commentary heading many narrative comic strips of an earlier era. The notation that "we weren't that close" is in sharply ironic juxtaposition with the warm exchange of father and son. "Poppa," says a mouse wearing a suit. An evidently older mouse, wearing a snappy fedora, glasses, and old-fashioned sweater with a pot belly opens up his arms to greet the young mouse.

This first image also establishes the tone for the rest of the graphic novel. The matter-of-fact narration of the typeface introduces the convention that mice are 'human' in this novel. The fact that the older man calls the mouse 'Artie' (the name of the author) establishes the tale's autobiographical nature. There is also an immediate framing of authorial intention, which is both humorous and serious. Many humorous cartoons use mice as part of their atmosphere and worldview: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse and Jerry of Tom and Jerry, most famously. When the reader sees a mouse, he or she likely expects a light and funny story. Even the subtitle of Maus, a 'survivor's tale' is a play on words, given that mice very literally have tails. However, the realism of the home which the mice inhabit, their humanlike dress, and the radio-like announcer tone of the voice-over written text above suggests that 'something different' is going on in this novel, and there is a serious intention to the use of mice. The juxtaposition between the said and the unsaid also indicates that the comic strip will depict subtle relationships: the mice may greet one another as father and son, but there is still tension within their relationship

Frame 2

In the second frame of Maus, the reader is transported into the interior of the father's home. Once again, there is a tension between the voice of the narrator and the visual image of the two mice. Says the narrator: "he had aged a lot since I saw him last. My mother's suicide and his two heart attacks had taken their toll." This narrative banner is superimposed upon the images of the two mice in the very center of the image, indicating the importance of these words. These aspects of the father's past will determine the entire narrative arc of Maus. Because of the father's personal suffering, he will relate what he experienced to his son. His father's memories and inner torment are clearly tied to the father's experiences of being a survivor of the Holocaust.

The interior of the depicted home is dim and shadowy. The two mice are poised on a staircase, indicating the father and son's uncertain, distanced relationship. But once again, their dialogue is pleasant. This time, the dialogue also provides some information and back story about the two characters: "It's a same Francoise didn't come," notes the father, evidently referring to the spouse of his son.

Frame 3

The third frame introduces a new character. The nattily dressed father holds his son by the shoulders. Artie the mouse is more clearly wearing a heavy coat and scarf in this frame. The father is smiling, crinkles around his whiskers. "Mala! Look who is here! Artie!" The caption notes that the father had remarried. Once again, the 'live action' nature of the strip is underlined. This is a story of human relationships -- specifically adult, human relationships where people get married and have conflicted relationships with their sons and daughters. The presentation of the long-lost son has a certain forced cheerfulness that is in direct contrast to the ominous tone of the voice-overs in the two earlier panels and the darkness of the room.

Frame 4

In the fourth frame of the opening sequence, we meet Mala, whom we are unsurprised to discover is also a mouse and, the voice-over indicates, also a Holocaust survivor. She takes Artie's coat and is wearing a housedress. This indicates the normalcy of the life of these mice and the parallels with the cartoon mice's lives with human existence. The reason for using mice as humans at this point is somewhat unclear, although the explicit references to the Holocaust foreshadows why such a vulnerable animal has been selected. Clearly the use of the mouse is not for purely humorous reasons, as it is with other types of comic strips, even though it might subconsciously prepare the viewer for humor.

The artistic depictions of the mice straddle the line between fantasy and reality. On one hand, the mice are very evidently anthropomorphic cartoons. They are wearing human clothing, and all of the relevant areas of the body that would be covered with clothing in a human are covered on the mice. They are thus even more realistic in nature than Tom or Mickey. As Artie removes his coat, he does so with remarkably human-like hands and the build of his shoulders resembles a man rather than a mouse. (Mice do not have fingers that can grasp a coat in the manner of Artie in this frame, nor do they have broad shoulders). The mice behave very much like humans, with the forced friendliness of any reconstituted human family with a tragedy in the past.

Yet despite all of this, the mouse-like heads remind us that Spiegelman's larger social commentary about the position of Jews in society and history is still at work. Against the mundane nature of the dialogue, the remark that almost all of Spiegelman's parents were Holocaust survivors is a reminder of how the ashes of history still swirl around the memories of Jewish people of a past generation. The memory of Artie's mother and her suicide likewise is a sad reminder of the persistence of sorrow, even in the face of the humble domesticity of the frame and the homey housedress of Mala and her friendly acceptance of Artie's coat.

Frame 5

In this frame, an even more pleasant scene of humble, gentle humanlike relationships between the mice is evident. Mala is putting Artie's coat on a hanger. "The dinner is on the table," Mala says. Artie the mouse is evidently smoking a cigarette. This marks Artie as 1. human despite his mouse-like persona 2. someone who is likely under some kind of stress because of his unhealthy coping mechanism and 3. someone who is not particularly concerned about his health. He remains silent (as does the narrative, captioned voice) as the father says "ACHH, Mala!" The foreign nature of the father is underlined in this panel, as is the fact that the European expressions with which he was familiar are still a constant presence in his verbal style. The typeface of ACHH is much darker and in capital letters, indicating the father's displeasure and short temper. This is a convention also borrowed from serious comic strips of an earlier era, using the depiction of words to indicate the tone of voice.

The ways in which Spiegelman's illustrations indicate character is especially noteworthy in this panel. The father suddenly has very prominent eyebrows which are furrowed, indicating his anger at Mala. Mala and Artie the mice do not have these prominent eyebrows -- they are largely expressionless and engaging in pleasantries as Mala takes Artie's coat. This 'floating' use of body parts and fluid use of human and mouse anatomical characteristics is another distinct feature of the graphic style of Maus.

Frame 6

In this frame, we discover the source of the father's displeasure with Mala. Mala was putting Artie's coat on a wire hanger. The petty nature of this tantrum indicates the stress under which Artie's father labors. He is angry about small things, despite having recently suffered some permanent tragedies (heart problems and the suicide of his wife) and tragedies in the past. This suggest that the father projects his frustrations and anger about the past into the present and gets angry at relatively minor matters because of his inability to deal with his past experiences. It also is a clue as to why he has heart trouble.

The father's irascible character traits are underlined in the explanatory voice-over by the narrator Artie, who states "they didn't get along," regarding Mala and his father. Despite the happy depiction the couple (especially Mala) was trying to present during the first frames with their greeting of Artie, clearly there is a great deal bubbling beneath the surface. "A wire hanger you give him," grouses the father in the panel, the furrowed eyebrows even more evident than before. "I haven't seen Artie in two years -- we have plenty of wooden hangers."

The subtext behind these words indicates not only the father's displeasure at Mala and his tendency to lash out at her about inconsequential matters but also the fact that he feels a certain amount of subliminal guilt for not seeing his son for so long, which is expressed in his concern about his son's coat. The father's location in an older generation of Jewish men is now quite evident in terms of his syntax -- "a wire hanger you give him" he says, rather than "you gave him a wire hanger" -- as well as his sharp temper.

Frame 7

"After dinner he took me to my old room" states the narrator, and the two men/mice are seen entering the room from the back. Although this is a relatively simple frame used to advance the narrative, it too serves a function of thematic exposition. From the back, the two mice look like human beings, except for their ears. The curvature and musculature of their backs is particularly, noticeably human. "Come -- we'll talk while I pedal," says the father. His more relaxed and conciliatory tone after dinner indicates the extent to which his anger beforehand was due to stress, not to an innately bad or violent character. The father evidently has trouble regulating his emotions, as manifested in his desire to 'do something' -- in this case, engage in exercise for his heart -- while he talks to his son for the first time in two years.

Spiegelman's use of the mouse-father pedaling is both funny and touching. On one hand, it is not necessarily unusual for a man with a heart condition, like the father, to take exercise as a result of a doctor's orders to do so. On the other hand, given that mice frequently are seeing voluntarily running on wheels for exercise, the image of the mouse-man on an exercise bike like wheel is both funny and touching. Once again, the similarities between humans and mice are underlined.

Frame 8

In this frame, the story begins to unfold. "I still want to draw that book about you," says Artie as he sits down. The postmodern convention of the author 'talking about' the process of writing the book within the book itself is established in this frame. Artie is shown sitting down in a room with a bedroom, wearing his vest and jacket as his father gets on an exercise bike in his son's old room.