Symbolic Smoke

Maus is not your typical WWII book. It is filled with pictures, metaphors, and numerous symbols. Of these, a important motif present in book is smoke. This motif of smoke shows up multiple times because Art is very much a smoker. However, what is interesting about the imagery of the smoke is that it is always in between Art and Vladek to symbolize a divide or barrier between them. From Vladek's perspective, the smoke distances him from Art because the smoke from Art's cigarette is harmful to Vladek's fragile health. From Art's perspective, the smoke is the divide caused by Art never truly being able to understand what Vladek went through in the war. The smoke is also symbolic of the smoke that rose from the gas chambers in the concentration camps.  Art Spiegelman illustrates this symbolism on page 69 of Volume II. 

Here we see that the smoke rising from the gas chamber as the smoke coming from Art's cigarette. As in the smoke from the gas chamber is the smoke from Art's cigarette. Once again we see the that smoke is present in between Art and Vladek, but seeing  the cigarette smoke also rising from the chimney, only emphasizes this divide. The very thing that killed so many of Vladek's relatives and friends is the smoke from the gas chambers, which is symbolic of vladek's experience in the camp. That experience is something that Art will never be able to experience experience and something that art will never truly be able to relate too. So through the imagery, Art spiegelman shows that Vladek's experience in the camp is what is creating a barrier between them.