In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman presents his father’s Holocaust narrative alongside his own personal narrative, especially with regards to his relationship with Vladek. In Maus, Vladek is dependent on his skills and even his flaws to survive. He comes to make these traits a part of him for the rest of his life as he strives to survive no matter what. While these flaws helped him survive as a young man but these same traits estrange him with those that care about him such as his son. In a way there are two Vladeks in Maus, the one in the past that he speaks about and the one that is actually present.
While the story may appear unrealistic at first glance since it literally makes use of animal caricatures, the characters are complex
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and flawed, and there is no simple ending. Notably, Vladek could be seen as an unreliable narrator as there is not a lot to back up the stories that he tells his son. He may be embellishing the truth or not speaking of more horrible truths. This is covered in Idit Gils journal by noting that, “The use of testimonies in historical research has created a controversy regarding their accuracy and validity. Scholars have pointed to the influence of trauma and current collective memory on the recollections. Dori Laub argues that traumatic events described in testimonies reflect historical truth, which is not based on empirical facts but on personal experience.”(495). This is also covered by Victor Seidler who comments that “historians, partly because of the positivist historiographies, were reluctant to listen to survivors but somehow saw it as their task to remain focused upon documents and archives that were somehow assumed to be ‘objective’, while testimonies were assumed to be ‘subjective’ and therefore less reliable.”(96) In some ways, Vladek’s story starts out with him being shown in a fashion like that of typical heroes. As the story of pre-war life is shown, Vladek states that, “I was at that time, young, and really a nice, handsome boy.” (15). This image fits in well with traditional portrayals of story protagonists. Indeed, Vladek possesses many heroic qualities, including resourcefulness, determination, and intelligence. These certainly show Vladek in an admirable light. However, intermixed with these are sections that show a different light on Vladek’s character, revealing him to be far from perfect. The author has no issue revealing this to the audience. For instance, Vladek’s extreme frugality is shown throughout the book, as it constantly alienates those around him, such as Mala, who exclaims that Vladek is “more attached to things than to people!” (95). Furthermore, the young Vladek is depicted as kind and innovative. A stark contrast to the older Vladek who is shown to be arbitrary and ironic in his dealings with others. At one point in the story, Francoise and Artie stop to pick up a black hitchhiker, and Vladek exclaims, “A hitch-hiker? And-oy-it’s a colored guy, a shvartser! Push quick on the gas!” (258). Of course, it is blatantly apparent to readers that Vladek’s racism is no different than the Nazis’ racism against Jews, and Artie and Francoise are quick to point this out to him. But Vladek merely shrugs it off, saying, “It’s not even to compare” (259). This is likely the ugliest version of Vladek seen in the work, about as far from heroic as can be. The scene not only suggests Vladek’s prejudices; it also shows that he did not escape the camps embedded with the idea of the triviality and ignorance of stereotyping. This idea is typically considered one of the key “lessons” to be learned from the Holocaust, so the fact that Vladek acts this way only drives home the point that Vladek is in no way a flawless hero, just as Maus is no simple morality tale. Indeed as noted by James Gow in his article covering the documentation of these sites that “The Holocaust itself, with the focus on mass murder of Jews, only emerges ten to fifteen years later. (552) Alternatively, his son Art does bring in historic facts that do back up Vladeks story and bring in an element of another viewpoint to keep Vladek rooted in the facts.
Artie even becomes concerned that he is painting Vladek as a stereotypical Jew, yet he defends his representation of Vladek by saying “I mean, I’m just trying to portray my father accurately!” (134). He makes a similar statement on page 25 when he tells Vladek, “I want to tell your story, the way it really happened”. In other words, Artie is intensely interested in portraying things as accurately as he can, “warts and all.” And this even includes Vladek’s ugly traits, especially his racism. Vladek’s other negative traits have their own backgrounds too. Mala makes many comments stating that Vladek has so much money saved up, but refuses to spend it. This can be traced back to the time at the beginning of the Holocaust, when Art’s store was robbed, and then all of his possessions were taken from …show more content…
him. Many reject the idea that Vladek loved those close to him but I disagree, I feel that he loved his son and those close to him very much but only showed it in a different way.
His flaws were deep but they were allowed him to survive as long as he did. Perhaps that is why, in his old age, Vladek tells his story to Art. It is a method for Vladek to continue his struggle for life, despite his physical and psychological frailty and is a way to pass on to his son hope and that there is much to gain simply from the struggle for life. Janet Jacobs covers this in her article by noting that “In one case, memories were explicitly communicated through modes of storytelling that placed a great deal of significance both on the events of the past and on the traumatizing experiences of the survivor parent who took great pains to inform the child of the actual experiences through which she and others had lived.”(32). Throughout Vladek’s tale, he subconsciously shows all of these traits, and as he explains his tale, the source of each one becomes more prominent to the reader. Furthermore the anxiety to always keep everything neat and tidy is another value which was permanently instilled into Vladek due to the Gestapo using any excuse to push their hatred on the Jews. All throughout the novel, whenever Art would spill ashes or mess up a book or anything Vladek would order the immediate cleaning of the area. Mala even commented on the trait, complaining how Vladek forced her to always clean
everything. This trait is something that Vladek was used to being around, and he feared what would happen were everything not this way. Although there is no longer anything to fear from not having a spotless living space, the fear still carries over into Vladek’s daily life as a production of the trauma he experienced. Even Vladeks work ethic can be tied in to his past, the first time one can see this is when he was to clean a barn in an hour. When his group failed, they were denied their dinner. Again, although there is no longer a fear of this happening, subconsciously Vladek will always possess this fear developed at such a traumatic time in his life as was the Holocaust. In her article Judith Shulevitz goes in to detail explaining PTSD and the effects that it has on an individual: Trauma is generally defined as an event that induces intense fear, helplessness, or horror. PTSD occurs when the dysregulation induced by that trauma becomes a body’s default state. Provoke a person with PTSD, and her heart pounds faster, her startle reflex is exaggerated, she sweats, her mind races. The amygdala, which detects threats and releases the emotions associated with memories, whirs in overdrive. Meanwhile, hormones and neurotransmitters don’t always flow as they should, leaving the immune system under regulated. The result can be the kind of over-inflammation associated with chronic disease, including arthritis, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, agitated nervous systems release adrenaline and catecholamine, both involved in the fight or fight response, unleashing a cascade of events that reinforces the effects of traumatic memories on the brain. This may partially explain the intrusive memories and flashbacks that plague people with PTSD. Extreme stress and PTSD also appear to shorten telomeres, the DNA caps at the end of a chromosome that govern the pace of aging. (89). In conclusion, Vladek lived through horrible circumstances and had many things torn from him. Vladek is extremely traumatized. He went through losing his first son to the Nazis, losing his wife to suicide, and almost losing his own life to the Holocaust. Vladek is the perfect example of a traumatized individual. He expresses all of the signs of someone who has been through such an experience which connect to his story, such as his frugalness, his tidiness, his independence, and his work ethic. His flaws may have helped him survive and he made these a part of him. There are those that were there, and rest of us who can only imagine. Jorge Luis Borges is one of these people and he used his literary works such as Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius to help fight Nazism in his own way. I also agree with Michael Grays conclusion that “This does not necessarily mean that Holocaust education should start at younger age for children but it does mean that the education that pupils receive at this age should be suitable to tackle their confusion and error.”(432). Many people become attached to their flaws even when they may not be the best for them. I for one have my own flaws that are as much a part of me as any body part. I would be loath to discard them when they might serve me in such a situation that Vladek found himself as a younger man.
Vladek learned many skills before the Holocaust that guided him throughout his life during the Holocaust. Vladek knew that he could use his skills to help him survive. First, Vladek taught English which resulted in not only survival, but Vladek also acquired clothing of his choice which almost no other person in his concentration had the privilege to do. After teaching English, Vladek found an occupation as a shoe repairman in the concentration camps. Vladek’s wife, Anja, was greatly mistreated by a female Nazi general, and Anja noticed that the general’s shoes were torn. Anja informed the general that her husband could repair her shoes, and after Vladek fixed the general’s shoes, the general was nice to Anja and brought her extra food.
Vladek’s controlling ways leads him to invent a life that he never had. Vladek wields his reality by reinventing his past life. When Vladek tells Art about his marriage to Anja, he portrays his marriage like a fairy tale. Vladek says, “We were both very happy, and lived happy, happy ever after” (Spiegelman 2:136). He reinvents his past life after the end of the Holocaust as free of woe. Correspondingly, he loses himself...
The comic implies that surviving the holocaust affects Vladek’s life and wrecks his relationship with his son and his wife. In some parts of the story, Vladek rides a stationary bike while narrating his story (I, 81, panel 7-9). Given the fact that it is a stationary bike, it stays immobile: no matter how hard Vladek pedals, he cannot move forward. The immobility of the bike symbolizes how survivor’s guilt will never let him escape his past. Vladek can never really move past the holocaust: he cannot even fall asleep without shouting from the nightmares (II, 74, panel 4-5). Moreover, throughout the story, the two narrators depict Vladek before, during and after the war. Before the war, Vladek is characterized as a pragmatic and resourceful man. He is resourceful as he is able to continue his black business and make money even under the strengthened control of the Nazi right before the war (I, 77 panel 1-7). However, after surviving the holocaust, Vladek feels an obligation to prove to himself and to others that his survival was not simply by mere luck, but because h...
and sometimes even unkovinf to Art. All this being caused by Vladek's inability to deal with the pain that
At the beginning of the Spiegelman’s narrative, Vladek and Art are completely disconnected from each other. They lack the conventional relationship between a father and son. There is no sense of understanding between the two, as if they had been strangers for their whole lives. Even from his childhood, Art experienced a sort of brutality and lack of understanding from his father, displayed in the small cartoon before Maus 1 begins. In this small comic, Art recreates a moment in his childhood when his father yelled at him for crying about his friends leaving him, shouting, “Friends? Your Friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week then you could see what it is, friends...
Maus by Art Spiegelman is not only a graphic novel demonstrating the negative effects of the Holocaust, but it is also a narrative that illustrates the personalities of the characters. Through a storytelling technique, various themes appear such as betrayal within the same race, dominance over others, suicide, and most importantly irony. The meaning of irony throughout Maus directly relates to absurdity, there is absurdity in all ironic occurrences throughout the book, the death of Anja’s wealthy parents, the death of Richieu, Anja’s suicide, Vladek’s dictator qualities, the burning of Anja’s diaries, the betrayal of Jews and finally the irony of war.
The format of "Maus" is an effective way of telling a Holocaust narrative because it gives Art Spiegelman the chance to expresses his father 's story without disrespecting him at the same
...nd Vladek’s suffering, he still somewhat tries. He writes a book attempting to recognize what his father has been through. Although a piece of literature may never truly be able to grasp the ideas and mentality of the holocaust, Maus comes very close.
For majority of people, cruising through a fine arts museum or gallery is nothing short of browsing through a textbook and failing to grasping knowledge of the content. A casual activity and check off ones list of to-dos, sometimes done just for the appearance it offers. Of that majority, one might look at a painting for a long while before connecting the uncommunicated dots from gallery label. But for the small remaining others, a trip to an art exhibition is a journey through emotions and feelings rendered by the artists of the particular works of art. Leo Tolstoy deems this to be the appropriate response to “true art” in his What is Art?, published in 1897. Tolstoy responds to the
The experience of the author not going through the Holocaust makes it so Vladek is the only reference he has and he might not remember every detail as clearly thus altering the true story. Vladek talks about many other people along the telling of his story, but the author only gets Vladek’s side of the story maybe if someone in the book read Maus and their character did not act like the actual person. Vladek’s second wife survived the Holocaust, but the author
The story of In "The Death of Ivan Ilych", was written by Leo Tolstoy around who examines the life of a man, Ivan Ilyich, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes that materialism had brought to his life only envy, possessiveness, and non-generosity and that the personal relationships we forge are more important than who we are or what we own.
Ivan Ilych was a member of the Court of Justice who was "neither as cold and formal as his elder brother nor as wild as the younger, but was a happy mean between them—an intelligent, polished, lively, and agreeable man” (Tolstoy 102). He lived an unexceptionally ordinary life and strived for averageness. As the story progresses, he begins to contemplate his life choices and the reason for his agonizing illness and inevitable death. “Maybe I did not live as I ought to have done, but how could that be, when I did everything properly?” (Tolstoy
Artie generalized his father as a compulsively stubborn and troubled individual in order to show the readers the memories that he held onto. On page 96 of Maus I, Vladek’s stubborn behavior is easily detected. Instead of spending money to fix the drain pipe leak, Vladek climbed on the roof himself to get the job done. The memory that Artie illustrates here is that his father was stubborn and cheap. In addition, on page 116 Artie elaborates more on the memory that his father was cheap. With an aggravated facial expression Artie emphasized, “You always pick up trash! Can’t you just buy wire?” when Vladek collected a piece of telephone wire from the ground. Evidently, this amplifies the idea that Artie kept memories of his father through meticulous generalizations of his character. Although these generalizations were not pleasant, they still signified memories that Artie kept of his father. Artie also included symbolic references to his father after his passing. On page 41 of Maus II, Artie is sitting behind a desk wearing a mask. This indicates a symbolic reference
At the first glimpse of Art and Vladek, there is a sharp view of Art’s childhood. Crying over b...
Art and Vladek doesn’t not have a conventional father and son relationship. It is hard for them to talk and see eye to eye in any situation. Because Vladek lived through the Holocaust he has a different understanding about the world, friendship and money. Art brought and new tape recorder so he could stop writing down all his father’s stories, when Vladek ask him about it and how much it cost Art told him 75 dollars and that it was on sale. Vladek then went on to say “pssh, at Korvettes you could find it for – maximum- 35 dollars” (Spiegelman,1986, p.73). Art on the hand was born after the Holocaust and didn’t have to go through the same things as his father did. This is one of the reason they have a strained relationship. But to blame one