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Is Maus a Non-Fiction Graphic Novel?

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Art Spiegelman’s Maus is considered to be a non-fiction graphic novel, but is creating a graphic novel based off a true story even allowed? Maybe you thought graphic novels were meant to be fiction. Well, I think the form of a graphic novel should not be restricted to only fiction. It is known for graphic novels to be fiction rather than non-fiction because that is what a novel is, fiction, but the name shouldn’t be a limitation of what can and cannot be told though this medium. There are many reasons for why telling a non-fiction story through the form of a graphic novel is beneficial. Spiegelman was able to share the story of his father’s holocaust experience by creating a graphic novel of it, and from the looks of it, it’s been very successful.

Telling a story through the form of a graphic novel allows the creator to deliver it in a unique way. We are able to understand the plot because of the language that is used along with the accompanying panels. In Maus, Spiegelman writes exactly as his father speaks, and he gets to the point instead of telling the story in a complicated manner. The panels that go with the text help us better understand the situation and what is going on in the story. As Scott McCloud puts it in Understandicng Comics, the graphics allow us to experience the story because we feel like we are traveling inside. The simplistic style of drawing allows us to put ourselves in the character’s shoes. It is easier for us to imagine ourselves in that situation. Being able to do this with such a serious topic is what proves that sharing a story through the form of a graphic novel shouldn’t be for fiction only. Just imagine the many historical events or other important topics that we could read about as graphic novels. That would be so helpful for many of us. We would be able to travel through the event or topic, and we would be able to have a better understanding of it.


Spiegelman, Art. "Chapter 5, Mouse Holes."The Complete Maus, New York, Pantheon Books, 1980, pp.110. 

The panel above from Maus at the bottom left corner really allowed me to understand what was happening as I was getting through the page. By feeling like I was travelling through the panels, I was able to feel the horror that the people were feeling as they were seeing that happen in front of them. Here we are told about the way the crying children were treated by the Germans. When I got to the bottom left panel where the child is being “swinged” against the wall, I could just not control my emotions. Seeing the German soldier swinging the child against the wall was like me seeing it with my own eyes. There are many other graphic novels about the holocaust and about other non-fiction topics that all seem to deliver the message quite well. My experience with this graphic novel as I’m sure it is for many others, and I am hoping it is the same for you, proves that non-fictional stories can be told through the form of a graphic novel, so yes, graphic novels can be fiction, and yes, Maus is still considered a graphic novel.

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