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Maus and the Holocaust
Maus and the Holocaust
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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...
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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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