I suppose you can say that attempting to trace two pages from Maus (books 1 and 2) could be considered my own brand of forgery. But I want to speak of forgery in terms of art and observation instead of deceit.
A forger spends long times attempting to understand the original artists thoughts, noticing even their mistakes, understanding not only from an observer’s perspective but as if from the artist themselves. There’s one problem with forgery: you are not the artist, no matter how much you may attempt to be. I cannot fully understand Spiegelman, nor what was going on in his head as he worked on this particular creation, no matter how long I stare at his work.
So I’d like to go a step further and propose that Maus itself was a forgery, Art Spiegelman’s attempt to replicate his father’s story as accurately as he possibly could, even though he did not have his father’s memories and there were many gaps he had to fill.
Which brings me to the point that forgery is a collaboration between the original artist and the forger, much like the Human Document we had to do last week. Sometimes looking at two seemingly identical things, then finding their differences, can tell you a great deal about each perspective.
I changed my mind, I do want to speak of forgery as deceit, because I think Art’s influence on his father’s story is more predominant than we realize. This was something that struck me as I was tracing pages 66 and 136 of Maus 1 and 2 respectively. It was 66 in particular that struck me as odd: Spiegelman dedicates half a page to Richieu’s tantrum upon Vladek’s arrival, giving it almost more importance than the reunion with Anja.
On the one hand, I find it essential to the parallel between the pages, because it emphasizes Richieu’s absence the second time around, and explains why Vladek calls Art by his deceased brother’s name, thus giving meaning to the ending, and a full circle to the comparison I’ve drawn.
However… Spiegelman admits that he’s always had a one-sided rivalry with Richieu, who apparently Vladek portrayed as an unachievable standard to follow. I think Art wanted to prove that maybe Richieu wasn’t so perfect after all.
The Secret Language of Sabrina 