MAUS Book 1 Chapter 5 By Ralph Maria

MAUS Book 1 Chapter 5 By: Ralph, Maria, Itzmaray, & Leo

Introduction https: //study. com › academy › lesson › maus-by-art-spiegelman-summary-analysis https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=u. GK 9 Qi 5 iq. R 4

Characters (Book 1 Chapter 5) Artie Spiegelman- A young Jewish- American man who works to write a comic book about his father’s experience during the Holocaust. Vladek Spiegelman- Artie’s father. A Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, Vladek is burdened by memories of fear, suffering, and loss that, until beginning his interviews with Artie, he has not addresses in years. Anja Spiegelman- Artie’s mother and Vladek’s late wife. A sensitive and highly intelligent woman, Anja survives the Holocaust but dies by suicide 1968.

Characters Maus ● ● ● Art Spiegelman: Author and narrator of the book and father of Vladek Spiegelman: Art’s father who had grew up pre war in poland. Anja (Zylberberg) Spiegelman: Vladek first wife and mother of Art and Richieu Spiegelman: Sent away to go live with uncle Persis Mala Spiegelman: Vladek second wife who is a holocaust survivor. A ● ● ● Anne Frank Edith frank Otto frank (the father) Margot frank Hermann

main characters Comparison Vladek ● Holocaust survivor Anne Frank ● Anne Frank died during the holocaust ● Tells the stories to his ● She wrote a diary that son later became a book ● He was resourceful ● Anne was optimistic and determined to despite her survive confinement

Themes comparison Maus ● ● Warfare Family Luck Survival and trauma Anne Frank ● ● ● Warfare (fear, suffering) Family Survival and loss

Symbols Maus ● ● ● ● people are presented as animals Jews are mice Germans are predatory cats Poles are pigs Swedes are deer with horns Americans are dogs Gypsy is a butterfly Frenchman is a frog Anne Frank ● Anne’s diary ● The yellow star

Chapter 5 plotline ● ● ● ● In hysterics Mala Spiegelman calls her stepson, Artie Spiegelman, because his father, Vladek Spiegelman, is on the roof, trying to fix the leaky drainpipe himself. Artie is annoyed by the early call and the demand for his help, and then even more annoyed when Vladek gets on the phone and says a neighbor is going to help him. Vladek seems depressed when Artie visits a few days later. Mala says it's because he read Artie's comic about Anja Spiegelman's suicide, Prisoner on the Hell Planet. Vladek and Artie walk to the bank so Artie can get a key to Vladek's safety deposit box. Vladek is convinced Mala will try to take everything if something happens to him. On the way he picks up stray telephone wire on the street to hoard and has to rest to take nitrostat for his chest pains. He also resumes telling his story.

Analysis The analysis of this chapter was based on a questioned, that is to why the Holocaust affected Vladek differently than Anja or Mala. One reason based on this chapter, is the fact that different people had different ways of coping with the horrors of the Holocaust. Vladek's means of survival - his resourcefulness and ability to use even the smallest of items for his benefit - clearly had an effect on his personality in later years. But while Vladek relied on his own resourcefulness, Anja relied primarily on others for her survival. Before she was taken to the concentration camps, she was almost completely reliant upon her husband for food and shelter. After the death of their son, it was Vladek who convinced her to live. This chapter also deals with survival, another important theme of the book. As the Nazi brutality continues to worsen, the instinct for survival begins to overpower the powerful bonds of Jewish identity. This is first seen in the form of the Jewish Police. They are just as brutal as the Nazis, and almost indistinguishable from them save for the Stars of David on their shoulders. Vladek tells his son that some of these Jewish police felt that they could actually help the Jewish cause, but many joined in an attempt to save their own lives. The bonds of family break soon after, as Vladek's cousin, Haskel, will not help him without first receiving some form of payment. Says Vladek: "At that time it wasn't any more families. It was everybody to take care for himself!"

Closing Statement

Works Cited https: //www. litcharts. com/lit/maus/summary https: //study. com › academy › lesson › maus-by-art-spiegelman-summary-analysis https: //www. annefrank. org/en/anne-frank/diary/ https: //www. litcharts. com/lit/maus/themes