Monday, January 12, 2015
At the Conclusion of Maus...
Respond to both:
One's experiences in life shape them. How did WWII shape Vladek? How was Artie shaped by his father's experiences? How does their story impact you?
Now that you have completed a graphic novel, what are your thoughts on this medium as a means to communicate a story meant to inform?
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The Holocaust has many effects on Vladek. He never wants to throw anything away. He does not like to spend money. In one chapter he goes to the grocery store to return open cereal boxes and half eaten food. I would say he is kind of paranoid. I also thought it was weird that Vladek is racist towards black people. I thought that someone who went through the Holocaust would not be racist because they would know how it feels to be discriminated against. I think Artie just wants to understand his fathers past. He feels sorry for his dad but his dad drives him crazy sometimes. Artie just wants to know what happened to his family and the Holocaust prevents him from knowing everything. Photos of Vladek's side of the family are gone because of the Holocaust. Their story is moving. Surviving the Holocaust is indescribably hard and probably close to impossible. The Holocaust effected their family greatly. I just could not even imagine going through something like the Holocaust, having to deal with the emotional pain of losing your mother or not knowing my little brother. I think graphic novels are one of the best ways to communicate and to inform. They have pictures to show what is going on. Honestly, this graphic novel is probably one of the best books I have read about the Holocaust. It is very moving.
ReplyDeleteI agree that graphic novels really show a lot. It really gave me a new view on the Holocaust.
DeleteThe war shaped Vladek in a negative way. The Holocaust has turned him into a man who is so worried and paranoid about every little thing possible. He counts his pills and wont throw anything away. Vladek's experience shaped Artie because this man raised him. The war obviously changed Vladek so Artie was raised by someone that went through this horrific event. By Artie listening to his fathers story, he can understand why the way Vladek is the way he is. Their story makes me realize how fortunate I am. I can't imagine losing my family, much less being separated from them having no idea what happened to them. The fact that this similar story happened to millions of families is heart breaking. I think the style of this book helped get the point across better. You could see different symbols throughout the book. For example, the Jews were shown as mice and the Nazis were shown as cats.I think that is an interesting take on the Holocaust and it was fascinating seeing all of the different symbols.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this. I think this book was better then the 1st one. It gave me a different view on the holocaust
DeleteM.S
I agree that the war shaped Vladek in a negative way.
DeleteThe holocaust has many effects on him. He is paranoid and worried about everything. He doesn't want to throw anything away. The memories haunt him. I really couldn't imagine losing my family. I feel bad for all the families that were torn apart because of the holocaust.
ReplyDeleteM.S
I could not imagine losing my family either. It is heartbreaking to know that so many people lost their loves ones because of the Holocaust.
Deletethe holocaust has effected him in a lot of different ways but for him it is hard to let go and it still haunts him, Losing so much is never a easy thing to live with but in order to keep living you have to move on but never forget.
ReplyDeleteNB RE LEE
I agree, I think it would be hard for anyone to just "let go" something like this. I know I would most likely never forget. It's hard living your life knowing you were part of one of the most haunting memories ever. P.F. R.E. LEE
DeleteWWII made Vladek want to give up on life, but his will, and his son mae him pull through. Artie was shaped into respecting his father and learning to deal with him in a better way than before. Their story just compliments never taking people in your life for granted. R.E. Lee
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the moral basically being never take people in your life for granted. It was a very powerful story, just like the first one. PF R.E. LEE
DeleteWWII shaped Vladek in many ways, most were for the worst. Artie didn't live through the war, but he lives with not even knowing most of his family. Vladek had to live with going through the war and seeing many family members and friends dying right in front of him. It's a pretty emotional story, mostly because Artie is a very good story teller. He really goes in depth with what happened during this dark time period. I think even the story can change a person, just knowing what people went through (mostly Jews). The pictures in this story are very powerful and well thought out. It really hits you when you read the story and see the picture with it. PF R.E. LEE
ReplyDeleteThe war shaped Vladek into a negative person, making him grumpy at first but I think Artie made Vladek into a better person towards the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the war shaped Vladek into more of a man but he became more I guess a strong and quiet guy but Artie opened him up more and made him more conformable with talking about it.
ReplyDeleteBut weaker in some ways.
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