Vladek's Relationship In Maus By Art Spiegleman

Almost every relationship between a parent and child has its rough patches. Every now and then it will get rocky; therefore, causing arguments and hostility towards each other. In "Maus," Art Spiegleman portrays two important and interesting characters that have such a relationship. The only difference between them and so called "normal" people is, it almost seems as if their relationship only consists of this rockiness. This graphic novel would be completely different if these two characters were in perfect harmony with one another. Vladek and Artie can get along sometimes, however their conflict with each other contributes to the whole book. During a majority of the book, Artie is attempting to uncover more information about his

An example of regular arguing is when Vladek throws away Artie's jacket. There's no real meaning to why he threw it out, he simply didn't like that his son was wearing such a coat. During this scene, it exemplifies their relationship perfectly. Vladek thinks he is helping and always looking out for his son, although Artie sees him as an annoying father who he can't spend for than a day with. While the coat situation is happening, Artie modestly tells him, "Look, dad . You can't do this to me. I'm over 30 years old. I choose my own clothes!" (1.69). While this quote isn't as hostile as some others may be, it gets the point across about how these two are when they are around each other. Their only real father and son moments are when Vladek is explaining his life during World War II. Even sometimes then they will argue because Vladek will start to get off point. As stated earlier, both editions of "Maus" would be drastically different without the parent and child conflict. The conflict defines these two characters mostly as stubborn, hostile men. Since this is a graphic novel,