As I was reading Maus in my college English class, I couldn't really help but think, "Man, this Art Spiegelman guy has it pretty bad." I mean, just the fact that I was reading one of several books published by him probably indicates that he's rolling in cash, but money can't buy happiness right?

The entire book chronicles his struggles, mainly with trying "to come to terms with his father's story and history itself", as I've so kindly been told by the book's Amazon page. But aside from that, Art's gotten so many short sticks that it's almost hard to count. Almost. Here's just a few.

1) Parents plagued with their experiences in the Holocaust.
2) Dead brother.
3) Mother kills herself.
4) Left with years of guilt and stress.
5) Poor relationship with father.
6) Loss of connection with family history.
7) Etcetera, etcetera.

But as I was reading the story, I noticed that there were other things in the book that were chronological besides just the stories Vladek was telling (well, sometimes those were chronological...) In the ways that Art shares his past, and his experiences, they all play out in a way that everything that happens to him influences what happens next. Unfortunately for Art, those things in his life mostly just all happened to be negative.

His parent's bad experiences in the Holocaust caused them to have conflicts within themselves. Anja's complexes in particular, lead to her eventual suicide. At some point along the road, Art ends up in the psych ward. Anja's suicide leads to Art's feelings of guilt and distress, and with her death, dies a large portion of Art's knowledge about his family history. All of these things overall result in Art having a very poor connection with his family's history, and have somehow shaped him into the person he is today.

This development through Art's life was very interesting to me, interesting enough apparently that I decided to write an entire paper about it. And without further ado, I bring to you, my blog translation.