Anja'nt You Happy I Didn't Make a Mice Pun?

        One of the most standout and memorable parts of Maus is when Art Spiegelman does a bit of comic-ception and tells a comic within a comic with the story of "Prisoner on The Hell Planet" from pages 100-103. Now, these pages are filled with thematically resonant and rhetorically meaningful panels that could be analyzed. However, I find the standout panel of this section to be on page 102 when Vladek grabs the striped rectangular coffin, screaming out for Anja. 

Later on, at the end of page 127, Vladek begins to have another rant about Mala in the bank before complaining about remarrying and beginning to scream and cry for Anja.

        The parallels between both scenes are pretty obvious as both contain Vladek crying over losing Anja, but there's far more similarities between the two than just that. Notice how as Vladek cries on page 127, he clutches the lockbox which contained the ring he gave to Anja, holding onto the box for comfort. It's very similar to how he clutches the coffin for Anja on page 102, holding onto it to try and be closer to it. And not only is Vladek's behavior similar between panels, but the lockbox and coffin are also very similar too, both are rectangles, both are drawn with clear bold stripes, both have a section that opens and closes and allows people outside to look inside the box, and both contain Anja in some way. That last one is the most meaningful as it justifies why Vladek clutches and holds onto both the lockbox and coffin, he's trying to hold onto Anja after losing her, either literally by grabbing the coffin that contains her corpse, or figuratively as he tries to hold onto the box that contains the ring he gave her.

        This could all be interpreted as Art Spiegelman showing how trauma and grief are things that stick around and permanently remain as a part of someone, illustrating that they’re not easy to just get rid of and people must deal with the effects of trauma and grief for the rest of their lives. However, I find a far more interesting theme to be the idea that Art Spiegelman's overall thematic message actually has nothing to do with the parallels of Vladek between panels.

        On page 102, Art is shown to be coddling and holding Vladek as they sleep and complains that "I was expected to comfort him!" on page 101. Despite being a young adult in this case and despite having just gotten out of the mental hospital, Art is expected to be the one comforting and supporting Vladek. Vladek, the parent and caretaker in this context, is having to be taken care of by his own son. And then over a decade later, on page 127, when Vladek breaks down again from his trauma and grief surrounding Anja, Art is the one expected to take care and support Vladek, holding and coddling Vladek the same way he did on page 102.

        Through this parallel, Art Spiegelman shows how people's inability to move on and cope with their trauma and grief causes the people around them to also never change or grow. Vladek obviously can't just "grow past" or "get over" being a Holocaust survivor and the suicide of his wife, but his constant breakdowns and suffering due to these events has impacted Art, who has also been unable to grow or change due to having to constantly take care of Vladek. Art is pretty much trapped or stuck in the same position in both situations, showing how Vladek’s trauma and grief is causing Art to not grow or change between situations. Ironically enough, Art is trapped much like his father used to be, due to his father. Vladek relying on Art to support and take care of him has trapped Art into taking care of Vladek much like how Vladek used to be trapped under the rule of the Nazis.

        Between the panel on page 102 and 127, there are not only clear similarities and parallels of Vladek being unable to move on past his trauma, showing the theme that trauma is something that remains permanent and sticks around, but as shown between the parallels and repetition on the panels of page 101 and 127, people who are trapped due to their grief or trauma cause the people around them to become trapped and stuck too.