Comparative Essay

Vladek and Guido use their skills and intelligence to endure a genocide that killed over 6 million Jews and 11 million people in total. Although sadly Guido did not make it through the Holocaust, his wife Dora and Son Giosué survived, thanks to the help of Guido. Vladek survived by using his many talents in the prison camps whereas Guido survived by his cunning intelligence and positive attitude. In the Books Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman, the author uses his fathers story of survival to create a book that unleashes vivid imagery of Vladeks time in Auschwitz, in addition to how it has affected him since. In the movie Life Is Beautiful Directed by Roberto Benigni, Guido was an average Jewish man living in Italy. When his family got taken to a Natzi death camp he managed to keep his son Giosué hidden, while doing so he jeopardized his own life. Both of these works display two brave men withstanding the worst race extermination in history.

Vladek was a polish Jew who later fell in love with a woman named Anja, just as Guido fell in love with Dora. Vladek, living in poland, starts to hear news of the Nazi’s uprising. As Poland was beginning to fall under the control of the Nazi’s, Vladek and his family tried to escape Poland but are tricked and sent to Auschwitz. “It was many, many such stories – synagogues burned, Jews beaten with no reason, whole towns pushing out all Jews – each story worse than the other.” (Maus I pg 35) Just as Vladek had lost his textile factory due to the Nazi’s, Guido’s book shop had been labeled a Jewish store. Both Guido and Vladek suffered through the train ride to the concentration camps. Vladek was incredibly smart and hung out on a beam at the top of the train car. He had access to fresher air and the...

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...eautiful they both show two brave men going through the Holocaust and their journey to freedom. These two stories of bravery, hopefulness and love have transformed the way the way in which a Holocaust story can be told. Both stories had their own way of portraying the horror of the Holocaust. Art used animals to convey characters in the comic, while director Roberto Benigni used comedy and lightheartedness to show a beautiful story of horror. Both of these stories had similarities and of course differences yet one similarity stood out; love is endless. Giosué will forever be grateful to have had a dad who sacrificed himself for the life and future of his son, just as Art will be knowing how strong Vladek was and that although they weren’t too close his dad loved him. Both stories contained a unique father-son relationship that is incredibly powerful to the viewer.