Maus - Primary Characters

Primary Characters

Art Spiegelman (born 1948)

Art is a cartoonist and intellectual who has a strained relationship with his father, Vladek, who calls him "Artie". Art is presented as neurotic and obsessive, angry and full of self-pity, and feels dominated by his father. Art deals with his own traumas and those inherited from his parents by seeking psychiatric help, which continued after the book was completed.

Vladek Spiegelman (1906–1982)

Vladek is a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust, then moved to New York in the early 1950s. Speaking broken English, he is presented as miserly, anal retentive, anxious and obstinate—traits that may have helped him survive the camps, but which drive his family mad. He displays racist attitudes, as when Françoise picks up an African American hitchhiker, whom he fears will rob them. He shows little insight into his own racist comments about others.

Mala Spiegelman (1917–2007)

Mala is Vladek's second wife. Vladek makes her feel she can never live up to Anja. Though she too is a survivor and speaks with Art throughout the book, Art makes no attempt to learn of her Holocaust experience.

Anja Spiegelman (1912–1968)

Also a Polish Jew who has survived the Holocaust, Anja is Art's mother and Vladek's first wife. Nervous, compliant, and clinging, she has her first nervous breakdown after giving birth to her first son. She sometimes told Art about the Holocaust while he was growing up, although his father did not want him to know about it. She committed suicide by slashing her wrists in a bathtub in May 1968, leaving no note.

Françoise Mouly (born 1955)

Françoise is married to Art. She is French but converted to Judaism to please Art's father. It is unclear to Spiegelman whether she should be represented as a Jewish mouse, a French frog or some other animal.