6 - Food in Maus

In Art Spiegelman's pair of graphic novels, Maus, he embeds many motifs as subtle reminders and continues alluding to the many themes of the books, some reminding us of the links of the Holocaust and the present, shared trauma between the generations, or of the problematic past Vladek describes that scars him throughout the comics. In the books, Vladek describes various occurrences of food and how such necessities were scarce and hard to find, or how they were signs of potential survival. 

In times of desperate hunger, Vladek relied on bread for him to get by, both before and during the Holocaust. One such moment was when Vladek was hiding in the ghettos, where he had to ration out bread for his family after he couldn’t obtain other sources of food. After he decided to give out a piece of bread to a stranger, it was revealed that he was working with the Nazis and he was caught soon after. During his time in Auschwitz, Vladek not only used bread as food, but as currency, negotiating with other prisoners for favors and objects. Bread represents the worst times of survival, as Vladek gets used to eating such commodity, defending his stash of bread even when ridden with typhus. It also represents Vladek's resource conservation, as he had to survive with bread rationing and trading for such bad times. 

Another food that was notable in Vladek’s story was chocolate, a luxury good during the times of the war. It was a signifier for times of relative safety and well-being, as such an item is prized, very much contrary to bread during the war. This is shown as the mention of chocolate is accentuated or bolded, as well as it being present in times where Vladek did not need to ration his food. Perhaps Vladek being diagnosed with diabetes is related to this, as after the war he could not enjoy such food without having a severe reaction. 

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