Art Spiegelman’s work, the reader witnesses the highs and the lows of humanity through the substitution of mice. Clever idea, and the arousal of humor with such a serious subject is quite interesting, but through all the themes, both artistic and those of character and plot development, I must take much grief from a subject under the surface.
It appears to me that Spiegelman creates a world of “mistaken treasures”, that is to say where the characters mistakenly place their trust or value with the incorrect people or items; namely, this is a constant problem between Vladek and his son. It shocks me that Vladek’s son can respond so violently objective in the face of his father at the conclusion of the story. Vladek is a true Holocaust survivor; Artie can never know the exact pains and adjustments Vladek’s lifestyle required for survival but he (Vladek’s son) is so focused on obtaining raw and balanced material for his book that he is willing to sacrifice his father’s balance of grief with the past. It makes me wonder if Artie is even (or when was he) concerned for his father’s emotional well-being; his continued digging for his mother’s diary was as annoying as watching the paparazzi hound a celebrity for invasive content.
Yes his father destroyed a piece of organic history, it was part of his grieving process. Would Artie have preferred he destroyed himself? I have a tough time reading or appreciating material speaking to the Holocaust as I was flooded with the content growing up (I think most of us have received quite a bit of knowledge of it’s events) so I can’t see how Artie can feel that his book was going to be “so” revolutionary. To the same token, Vladek fails to emotionally or comprehensively understand the world around him. It ALL seems to come to money. Granted, this may have been the trading point for life in the ghettos but as Mala even states, “she” had seen the same ghettos and did not place all her value in the material aspects of wealth. Vladek’s son is attempting to connect with him on a historic basis and his actions point him where…in the direction of the bank. Artie has a great idea, Vladek should “enjoy his savings while he still can” but he is so used to saving and placing his value in the concept of saving (never spending…) that it simply cannot happen.
As far as the diary’s destruction goes, I think even though Artie keeps saying he wants it for the book, it’s evident from “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” among other instances that his reaction at the end isn’t about potential inspiration so much as it is about the emotional connection between himself and his dead mother.
The diary represents a chance to get in her mind, to see how she dealt with the horror of Nazi Poland, maybe even to get a glimpse at what built up to her suicide. From his perspective, Vladek has selfishly destroyed what little was left of his mother in an impotent fit.
Of course, I DO sympathize with Vladek as well, and you completely understand why he burnt it all, and you can see that Artie is being petulant about it. Still, I think Spiegelman pulls off the scenario with some depth and complexity, so that you can see both sides of the story and really connect with both characters, therefore making their conflict more meaningful (and “true feeling,” for that matter).
You do get to see both sides, and I think a main factor for why Artie is so mad about losing his mother’s diaries is alluded to in the “Prisoner from Hell” comic. Artie gets blamed for his mother’s death by others so the fact that his mother left something behind for him that she deemed important makes it all the more important for Artie. He lost what artifacts she left for him, and it makes him grieve for her almost twice, just as his father continues to grieve.
Travis, you lost me when you said “It ALL seems to come to money.” I didn’t understand this shift from discussing the diary and Art’s own book to the discussion about money and the bank.
I think a larger theme is simply the idea of “saving.” There are so many things that Vladek compulsively saves—trinkets, money, even Anja—so it is quite remarkable that he deliberately chooses not to save Anja’s diaries. This flies in the face of everything we know about him. I think you’re onto something when you say that destroying the diaries was part of his grieving process, though I’d argue that grieving for him isn’t a process so much as a permanent state of affairs.