Maus and the Holocaust

839 Words2 Pages

The Holocaust is known to all of us in some manner. Maybe we know someone who survived this terrible event in history, or one has learned about it in school, either way, everyone has had some kind of knowledge about the horrible things that the Nazi party did to the European Jews during the Holocaust. The Holocaust took a great toll on many lives in one way or another, one in particular being Vladek Spiegleman. Vladek's personality underwent a huge change due to his experiences during World War II. His personality is so dynamic and it was the experiences that he made during the Holocaust that changed him so dramamtically. In the beginning of Maus the reader is thrown into a scenario of the Author, Art's, many visits to his father's. Art and his father, Vladek starte a conversation about Vladek's past, but Vladek is very reluctant to discuss his past with anyone Vladek seems to be a very untrusting old man who is afraid of two major things. The main fear Vladek has is taping into his memories only to relive the pain he suffered and because of this Vladek has a fear of getting too close to anybody. He thinks that he will be betrayed in the same ay that he was before by many Germans and even his own friends. The way he is so cold-hearted to his second-wife also shows how unloving Vladek is too anybody who did not make the same exact experiences as he did. Even to his own son, Vladek has trouble opening up about personal memories and being loving and caring. All these bitter emotions that keep Vladek from being happy in his old age are casued from the painful memories of the Holocaust. Vladek's experiences during the war caused a drama... ... middle of paper ... ...is especially incapable of trusting people who didn't libe the same life, like his son. He is very cold-hearted and sometimes even unkovinf to Art. All this being caused by Vladek's inability to deal with the pain that he suffered through-out his life, ie. the war, the holocaust, his wife's suicide, and his heart disease. Vladek has a very complex personality that evolved so muh because of the expereinces that he made throught the Holocaust. The holocaust thought him to be unwilling to spare anything ( material things as well as his emotions) and made him almost obsessive compulsive about wasting food or money. He has a deep fear that everyone want to take advantage, useadn then betray him. ladek Spiegleman is a disturbed, bitter old man who is unwilling to talk about the things that made him the way he is.

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