The Guilt In Vladek's Story Of Art

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)

There are many ways the Holocaust affected Vladek’s personality traits and behavior. A huge catastrophic event like the Holocaust can cause one to have emotional damage that could cause them to act a certain way after being mistreated for so long. Trauma is a result of going through a terrible experience at a certain point in your life. It is almost inevitable that there will be some type of mental issue after experiencing such a horrible event. There is no doubt that some of Vladek’s personality traits were gained from experiencing the horrible things that took place during the Holocaust and also being treated very unfairly. There is evidence that show that it can be very difficult in trying to keep a clear mind and trying to stay calm at times. Vladek seems to have some very negative personality traits.

Despite Art saying that he is confused about his relationship with Vladek (II/14-16), there is evidence that points towards them being pretty close. For example, upon Art’s discovery of Vladek disposing of Anja’s diaries, Art freaks out on Vladek in a way that would only be possible with someone you are extremely close to (I/58-59). The use of his profanity and desperate questioning shows anger and Vladek’s cool response can only be used by people who care deeply for each other. This is more apparent later when Art rushes to Vladek after news of a heart attack, only to find out it was not a heart attack and Vladek’s wife had left him (II/13-17). Finally, Vladek entrusts Art with a key to his safety deposit box, a sole recipient of such key (I/127). This alone can be classified as a trusting and caring relationship. The reason they became so close was probably after Anja took her own life. The two had to come together to cope and get past the loss of a mother and a wife. As a result, Art was able to make a book and get even closer to his

Art and Vladek have not been able to connect as much as they would like because of their contentious relationship. When discussing their relationship to Pavel, Art’s avuncular therapist, Art says, “Mainly I remember arguing with him... and being told I couldn’t do anything as well as he could” (II: 44). When Art was young, he never had a chance to truly consociate with Vladek. Vladek was too affected by the Holocaust to become close with Art, and this engendered Art and Vladek’s distant relationship. Since Art has a distant paternal relationship, it forces him to be more independent when Art could have learned a great deal from Vladek. Since they are not close, they are both losing an important part of their life, and this will have a negative effect on both of them. It also is evident that neither worked towards becoming close, as they still misunderstand each other and argue often. During an argument, Vladek says, “Always you’re so lazy! Every job we should do as to do it the right way.” Then, Art replies, “Lazy?! Damn it, you’re driving me nuts!” (II: 21). They continuously have arguments that eradicate any attempt to create a better relationship. Their irreparable differences seem to drive these arguments. When Vladek and Art approach their differences with arguments, it creates a significant burden on their relationship. This burden has caused them to become distant. Since Art is distant with Vladek, he has and is neglecting a great deal of wisdom which can be crucial for him, especially since Vladek survived an enormous genocide of the Jews. Vladek can teach Art to become resourceful, adaptive, and most of all, grateful. These traits can help Art to become a better person in a time where there is no holocaust for Art or anyone else to

Both characters allow their pasts to run their lives. Unfortunately, how they act not only affects them but, affects their relationships with the people around them. Neither have any sort of charisma that inspire people to want to be around them. Instead they both wallow in their pasts. Both characters were very different people before their events and never really return to themselves. The events without a doubt altered the course of their lives and changed them for the worst. Fortunately for both the events happened when they were relatively young giving them plenty of time for redemption and making amends. Libby redeems herself by investigating her families’ murder and finally finding out the truth. Vladek tries to repair a broken relationship with his son Artie but, in the end falls short when his last word in book two is his dead son’s name.

(pg. 39, The Perversion of Loss) He feels guilty about having been born after the Holocaust, and that his parents had to live through it, while his life has been easy. This strains Art and pushes him further away from his father, when he asks himself which of his parents he would save from a concentration camp he tends to pick his mother. This guilt is visible when Art is talking to his wife and tells her that he “somehow wishes he could have be in Auschwitz with his parents, so he could really know what they lived through.”

In the opening, Vladek was very reluctant about discussing his past with even his own son. This hesitation came from the fear of reliving the pain he suffered through during the holocaust. Although Vladek doesn’t bluntly state the struggles he overcame, it is seen through the personality alteration Vladek has undergone. Before the occurrence of the Holocaust, Vladek is a resourceful, successful and very intelligent. Vladek managed to find a woman like Anja to marry—rich and smart. His marriage with Anja if filled with love, compassion and intimacy; Anja soon became a significant aspect of Vladek’s life. Vladek loved Anja knowing she was suicidal; he always did his best to cheer her up. Although Vladek and his family spent years trying to hide from the

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.

In the story of Maus, Spiegelman wrote about a time that a son wanted to learn about what happened to his father during the time he lived through the Holocaust. The story take place in New York but also has flashback of when Vladek was a polish Jew in Auschwitz. As we read the story we soon realize guilt tries to overtake the purpose of the story. Not only do we see guilt through Vladek as a post survivor of the Holocaust, but also through Artie as he learns what happened during the times that his dad suffered through his past. As the story builds, we soon realize each character portrays qualities of guilt. Does the evidence of guilt from Artie and Vladek in the story of Maus negatively affect the relationship? If so, does this contribute to the way they communicate, making it hard for Artie to truly know what happened during the Holocaust? In Spiegelman’s book, Maus, Artie is writing a book based off of the traumatic event that Vladek faced. Sometimes the relationship that Artie and Vladek have, makes it difficult for Artie to tell a story without being too biased and basing it off of emotions towards his father.

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,

Phones are the easiest and most common way to get connected. Through his art, Pawel Kuczynski is warning the audience of problems that phones cause among people. The artist has created many paintings to convey the idea of technology causing people to become separated and disconnected from one another. Kuczynski’s art could be seen as a metaphor for young people, being connected through technology but still isolated in loneliness. Phones are most likely the most commonly used source of communication in the world; which begs the question of how they could possibly be disconnecting people. The title alone, Islands, suggests to the audience a sense of distance and isolation. That is also conveyed in the painting itself with the use of perspective

In chapter one of book II Art reveals that he feels extremely guilty about not having to go through the Holocaust like his father did and says "Somehow, I wish I had been in Auschwitz with my parents so I could really know what they lived through! …I guess it's some form of guilt about having had an easier life than they did"(Spiegelman, MausII,16).

According to Tolstoy, the true purpose of art is connected to our abilities to feel emotion. “To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling - this is the activity of art” (Tolstoy,66 ). Much like food is necessary for sustenance, art is necessary for our sympathetic capacities. In order for this form of communication to occur, the artist must have the capacity to express and transmit through his art, while the audience must have the capacity for sympathy in order to feel the artist’s expression. According to Tolstoy, simply transmitting an emotion is not enough to define art. A true work of art must be infectious to its audience and be able to express individual feelings lucidly and purposefully.

Leo Tolstoy compares art to speech by mentioning that art is a form of communication. The communication that Tolstoy writes about in “What Is Art?” is of two types, good and bad. According to Tolstoy, good art is what carries humanity towards perfection (Tolstoy 383). It is this movement forward in humanity that is emphasized by Tolstoy. Tolstoy informs his readers that speech is what teaches knowledge from human history, but art is what teaches the emotions of mankind’s past. As knowledge becomes obsolete in society it is replaced by new and more relevant information. Tolstoy asserts that emotions act the same way. The purpose of art is to express new and more relevant feelings to humankind. The new feelings are for the

For Tolstoy, the value of art comes from the function art serves in society and in human historical development. Art appears in everything that lives and should have the force to bring people together as a community. For him expressionism in art is a means of communication, in such as a language. Therefore, language can be described as a form of art under the theory of expressionism. Speech transmits the thoughts and experiences of mankind, serving as a means of expression among them; art also acts in a similar manner by sharing emotions. If people could not be affected by art, we would still be in the era of savagery. Referring back to the author of our book, John Fisher, emotional communication is essential to art. Fisher also states that too much harnessed emotion will tend to lower the value of art.