A Lively Complexion

Would you rather... live forever or only live until you're forty? Would you rather... live during a war or die before the war? Would you rather... be a survivor of the war or die fighting? For some the answers might seem obvious; If I can live longer, then of course whichever option lets me do that is the one I'll choose! However, this initial "obvious choice" doesn't always turn out as nicely as you would have expected. Living forever also means that time and time again, you will have to watch the one you love die and leave you. Living during a war could leave you subjected to hardships and unjust treatment. Coming out of the war alive doesn't always equal a happy ending. It could mean that you might face survivor's guilt and be haunted by the memory of your comrades' deaths' for the rest of your life. In the graphic novel, Maus, Spiegelman not only presents the drawbacks of life, but is also a victim of being alive, himself. Right off the bat, you are introduced to Art's father, Vladeck who is a primary example of a man that can be diagnosed with survivor's guilt. After the Holocaust, it is clear that Vladeck has been unable to move forward and has been, without relief, trapped in his memories ever since. The Exercycle on page 12 is the main symbol for this because as much as he continues to pedal forward, he doesn't and will never make any progress in the forward direction. Even though he is physically alive, Vladeck's soul died on the battlefield. On the other side of the spectrum, there's Art. Although one might consider him as lucky to have been born after one of history's most horrific and inhuman times, for Art, he will now never be able to understand or even comprehend the experiences that his family had to go through. When he is pelleted with questions by news reporters with questions about the Holocaust and the expectation that he understands, his guilt and regret for not also having lived at the time is only further inflamed. The repercussions of living may just as well be worse than the fear of death. As Art Spiegelman said, "To die, it's easy... but you have to struggle for life."