Maus: Vladek's Life After The Holocaust

According to the texts and eyewitness accounts, the Holocaust had horrendous effects on the people who lived through it. During this time Jews were being rounded up and put into concentration camps by order of the German government. Writings and testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust are around even to this day. According to these sources, Holocaust survivors suffered tremendously since they were treated as less than human , they lost loved ones, and were constantly abused.

Vladek is depicted as a hero who shows countless acts of selflessness and generosity and a villain who is, “opinionated, tight-fisted, and self-involved”. (Brown 6) Art Spiegelman’s book Maus, tells the story of how Vladek and Anja Spiegelman survived the Holocaust. Spiegelman illustrates Vladek as a man who single-handily saved his family from starvation and Auschwitz in World War I. During Spiegelman’s interviews, we get an idea of Vladek’s darker side since the war ended. Mala to speak of her astonishment and disgust in Vladek’s character. Which leaves us to question how truthfully these stories are being told. In the end, Vladek’s unsuccessful heroism is a constant reminder of his failure; survival with Anja was always easier, after her death, Vladek pushes everyone away with his “guilt and manipulation” (Brown 7)

Although Valdek thought he wouldn’t survive the Holocaust, he used both skill and luck to get him free and survive the Holocaust. Most people didn’t have as much luck as Valdek and were killed. Vladek used his skill against the Natzi’s and managed to survive. This shows that people struggled with the Holocaust, but some people would use their skills and survive to be able to tell their stories, such as Art Spiegelman in the book “Maus”, Vladek is a survivor from the Holocaust. Vladek needed both skill and luck to help him out in the Holocaust for good and bad.

The tone in Maus is depression; this is shown when Vladek tells the story in his perspective and reveals what kind of events occurred during the Holocaust. This relates to survival because even though Vladek had a feeling of discouragement through his experiences, he still managed to survive. Vladek explains when he was captured as a war prisoner and what they gave them to eat. “The other prisoners get two meals a day. We Jews get only a crust of bread and a little soup.”(Spiegelman, 55) This shows how hard it was for the Jews and how hopeless Vladek’s story was. Another heartbreaking part of the story was when Vladek had to work hard and act as slaves to the

While Vladek is telling his story about his experience in the Holocaust there can also be a great emotional effect on him as well. By Vladek telling his story it can also make his mental state worse than it already is by not recognizing what really happened during the Holocaust. If Vladek were to actually realize what happened and how he got through it is mental health could actually start to recover from most of the trauma it has gained. It is true that Vladek could possibly heal himself and hurt himself at the same time by sharing his stories from the Holocaust. It is also very true that by Vladek being traumatized it can cause him to be very depressed and denial and

It's obviously showed that with Vladek actions towards people we can understand why they feel so low. Vladek throughout the story, he stresses the importance of his heart (comparing himself of how heroic and very strong he use to be). "It's good for my heart..the pedaling.." (1 12) All the sweat, blood and tears (energy) it took to survive the Holocaust seems to build up and haunt Vladek as present (life now). He needs to know that everyone ages and he has to accept the fact that he's getting old and he cannot be what he once was and that's young again doing all the skillful things he use to do.

Vladek a survivor for the Holocaust managed to fight for his life just like a wild animal would do. Vladek never gave up his will or strength during the Holocaust like like any animal or human being would do. The very few survivors of the Holocaust including Vladek are the only ones who can share their story with the world and tell others how it all started. The Holocaust was a terrible event that took place for a couple years, that many people didn’t survive. Even under difficult circumstances during the Holocaust Vladek will to live and survive was strengthened.

"It was crying and praying. So long we survived. And now we waited only that they shoot, because we had not else to do" (267). This quote from the end of the novel ironically describes what the Jewish people endured after the concentration camps. Vladek Spieglman among other suffered through traumatic experiences; though Vladek certainly did survive the holocaust, old Vladek did not. Post-Holocaust it is revealed by Spieglman that his father, Vladek, develops two personalities—before and after the concentration camps. Vladek’s post-holocaust life was haunted by the horrors he witnessed while being in the concentration camps; he went from a young, handsome resourceful man to a miserable, old man who does nothing but complain.

Vladek clearly possessed many resourceful qualities that aided him in surviving the holocaust. Spiegelman helped portray Vladek’s experience with diagrams of the camps, crematorium plans, an actual photo of Vladek and a manual for repairing shoes. By using these visual aids in the novel, it helped the reader to have a better historical understanding of the context. It also assisted the reader in imagining a setting of where this all took place. For example in chapter two, page 60 we see the diagram of Vladek explaining to the readers how he fixed boots and considered himself a shoemaker. Here we can see the quick thinking that he used to get himself out a situation that could have turned sour for the most part. He used his judgement and resourcefulness

The main characters are people who want to survive but there is a long and difficult way in front of them which they will have to conquer. However, they have already adapted to this kind of life and they are survivors. This page is interesting and admirable because of the middle panel where the readers can see Anja and Vladek from behind going in the unknown direction. They are singled out because other survivors seem to know where they are going because one of the people says: “We’ll be hiding at this address. When you find a safe place, try to contact us, Vladek” (Spiegelman 125). The survivors care about the well-being of one another. Anja and Vladek are depicted from the upper angle which implies their vulnerability and the fact that they have no shelter. There is nowhere to go and the only path is through the road in the shape of the swastika. It is clear that they are the survivors of the Holocaust, but it does not mean that they have solved all of their problems. They are alive and they have to find new life now which is going to be difficult. It can be observed from the panel that they are elegant and brave people and they are Art’s parents. They are holding hands, because their intimacy is all they have and they are probably wearing all of the clothes they possess. It is obvious that they were people who were not poor, but the Holocaust happened and made them lose their

We can read Maus from a historical standpoint. The Holocaust is a deeply etched fallacy that took the lives of millions of innocent people. By reading Maus we can explore the historical downfall of mankind and the side effects that such a traumatic event. Throughout both books, Vladek is portrayed as a cynical and angered individual, which can only mean that whatever happened inside the concentration camps changed the way he saw the world. It’s unfortunate that this event had to happen, but like the saying goes what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Since Vladek survived the Holocaust it’s understandable the way in which thinks and acts. The way in which Vladek acts allows for us to explore history through the eyes of someone who was actually there during this time and not by an author who wasn’t there. Because we have this opportunity to explore history through someone’s eyes, we are able to see the devastation and the torment that these individuals went

Maus enters the realm of animals which is adamantly stressed in the graphic novel; therefore, it creates a sense of symbolism and figurative aspects from the compelling outlook of the Holocaust. During the time when Vladek was in a military tent to provide support for the Nazis, he had to go urinate which ultimately almost cost him his life. “That night I went out for the tent…I had to urinate and a guard began shooting to me” (Spiegelman 62). The author, Artie, depicts this panel in his novel seriously when Vladek was the victim of getting shot. The Jewish are displayed as mice and specifically the shadows and dark

Art and Vladek’s atypical relationship showcase the division created by the holocaust various different ways. Art immediately paints a picture of a; weak, frail, old man, who had

When one cannot deal with guilt within oneself, the feeling of guilt can be transferred to affect another. Art struggles throughout his life to understand why he never had a great relationship with his father. After trying to write with no luck, Art heads to his regular appointment with Pavel, another Holocaust survivor. Pavel suggests that maybe “(Vladek) took his guilt out on YOU, where it was safe… on the REAL survivor.” (7, p 44) Vladek felt guilty about surviving the Holocaust, but instead of accepting it,

Art’s choice to include a 2-page prologue before the beginning of the book proper helps to very clearly illustrate the relationship that Art and Vladek have had up until the beginning of the book. Art is abandoned by his friends, and his father attempts to comfort him, however this appears to Art, and therefore the reader, as more of a comparison between Vladek’s experiences during the holocaust and Art’s childhood suffering, especially with the mention of “no food for a week”, which Art has utilised to create a sense of emotional distance, of an incompatibility between the two.