Vladek's Relationships

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.

My initial observation of Dashkova is her ability to be extraordinary despite her difficult upbringing. Her intelligence was compelling to the Empress Catherine and the men that she had encountered during her traveling. Dashkova portrayed herself as a strong, versatile woman, who’s not only different from most of the women during the time period, but can also outperform her male counterparts in various tasks (e.g. surgery, debate, carpenting, etc.) (pg. 144). She surprised the readers at the first moment when she met Prince Dashkov, a Moscow man. She fell in love with him and got married at the age of 16. The proposal was informal and emotional unlike the traditional arrangement with its strict regulations. Just 5 years after, Prince Dashkov passed away, leaving Dashkova 2 children and his mountainous gambling debt. In the most hopeless scenario, Dashkova managed to raise her 2 children and provided her son a wonderful education while still remaining faithful to the Empress Catherine II. She declared, “My own poverty affected me not at all” (pg. 149).

The novel of Vaclav and Lena written by Halley Tanner exemplifies how it is inevitable for human beings to experience twists and turns within a relationship. Two close friends, Vaclav and Lena reunite after nine years and because of this reunion, Vaclav needs to make important decision of whether he wants to dedicate his time with Lena or his girlfriend Ryan:

They both work their way through their issues using outside help to aide them along the way. Libby used the kill club to jumpstart her investigation and Vladek used Artie’s book as way to get closer to Artie. Either by coincidence or on purpose the fictional book ended with its main character making a full recovery and therefore ending in a more satisfying way. The true story ended in a realistic way and was less satisfying and unclear whether Vladek was at peace before he died. Vladek may not have ever recovered and took his problems to the

Vladek went through the various Nazi genocide stages as brought out by Raul Hilberg. According to Hilberg, the four distinct phases of the Holocaust were identification, economic discrimination, and separation, concentration, and extermination. Although Vladek was not eventually exterminated, his close relatives and friends did not survive the lethal last stage through the various sugar-coated tactics employed by the Germans. The essay will scrutinize these Holocaust stages and relate them to the life events of the Vladek, the main character in Maus 1 and 2 written by Art Spiegelman. The works of other scholars in predicting the impacts of the Holocaust will also be looked at.

Unfortunately he kept this trait throughout the rest of his life and it is what caused him to lose his second wife, Mala. This quotation shows that Mala was very unhappy living with Valdek. “Your father he treats me as if I were just a maid or his nurse…worse! He only gives me $50.00 a month …” (Spiegelman 130, Maus I). In this quote you see how Mala can’t stand living with Valdek and you also see that Valdek is so frugal that he will not even give Mala, his own wife money.

6. What is the significance of Vladek’s dream about his grandfather? What recurring meaning does “Parshas Truma” have in his life?

War II.  His personality is so dynamic and it was the experiences that he made during the Holocaust that

In my presentation, I’m going to discuss the relationship between Art and Vladek, and how their relationship develops. The relationship develops gradually throughout the novel; however, I have chosen a few key points that I feel are the most important.

I found the irony of the situation to be quite funny, of all the women, he becomes engaged with Liza’s daughter Lika. When he finds out that Lika’s mother is Liza, he is a bit overwhelmed and considers breaking off the engagement. But, instead of calling off the wedding, he goes through with it, but not for the right reason. “In the bathroom, like a complete idiot, I checked through HER shampoos and creams, twisted HER toothbrush and dipped my face in HER towel, restraining myself from digging in a linen basket.” (Rozdobudko 98). After reading that passage, he is referring to Liza as “HER”, he may be married to Lika, but he is still in love and obsessed with

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

Additionally, by including less detail, Spiegelman makes his characters easier to relate to, or as McCloud references, more universal. After Vladek recalls the hanging of a few of his associates, Spiegelman illustrates a very plain, bleak image of him mourning their loss in present day. The image consists of the most basic character features, making it effortless for the reader to mentally input their face on Vladek’s. Overall, this “amplification through simplification” (McCloud), aids the reader in feeling the emotion of the character, finding a deeper connection to the story as a whole, and can reveal universal truths.

We learn early in the book that Vladek’s personality in the story comes off as arrogant, extremely frugal, self-centered and sometimes he appears to be OCD. However, what Vladek tells about times before war shows that he was more loving and not as self-centered especially when it came to his first wife. Vladek is a Holocaust survivor and while telling his story to Artie he shows signs of being guilty for surviving. This story starts with the suicide of Anja and ends with his death, which is a reconciliation to Anja. Although he got remarried, it is clear that Mala cannot begin to compare to Anja which is why he doesn’t feel guilt towards Mala. The fact that he keeps Anja

As the story unfolds, Gurov at first changes subtly. First of all he meets Mrs. Anna Sergeyevna. His attitude at first is still the same, he finds her as another victim of his little game that he plays. He sits and watches, searching his mind for a ways to get her attention like he does for every woman. He still looks at women in the same sort of fashion. Anna and Gurov start spending time with each other more and more, he still plays his game. Each time that he meets her and tries to coax her into have an ice or syrup, yet he still looks at her as “pathetic.” After their first kiss he begins to realize that there is something different about this girl. Unlike the usual women he messes around with, she feels guilty about engaging in this affair with him. Anna does not give him the satisfaction of playing the game along with him. As he spends more time with Anna he becomes fond of her presence. He starts learning more about her, when she talks him listens intently instead of getting bored and rolling his eyes. When Anna gets a letter from her husband asking for her to come home, Gurov acts like it isn’t a big deal, he still believes he is playing his game. At first he forces himself to believe he is ok, but after they are apart for a while he realizes that Anna isn’t leaving him. She follows him everywhere, not just in his dreams. He feels something that he has never felt before, he

Ivan Ilych’s marriage to Praskovya Fedorovna is not built on true love, instead it is built on Ivan Ilych once again, trying to fit in with society. To prove that Ivan Ilych did not get married based off true love the narrator says, “Ivan Ilych might have aspired to a more brilliant match, but even this was good. He had his salary, and she, he hoped, would have an equal income.” (Tolstoy) This quote proves that Ivan Ilych was conforming to society and he married his wife just because it was the right thing to do since everyone else was doing it which is shown when the narrator says “Ivan might have aspired to a more brilliant match” meaning that he was not completely satisfied with his wife. Ivan Ilych did not look at the deeper meaning of marriage, he only looked at the materialistic and physical things that came along with his wife which is why they both did not live a happy life together. When Ivan Ilych got ill the narrator says, “her husband had a dreadful temper and made her life miserable, she began to feel sorry for herself, and the more she pitied herself the more she hated her husband. She began to wish he would die” (Tolstoy). This expresses the hate that Praskovya Fedorovna felt towards her husband due to the fact that she realized Ivan Ilych never cared for her or her family and he only cared about his social status. Ivan Ilych was a bad husband because of his immorality and thus his wife is insurgent against him. Here,