Vladek's story of his experiences in WWII is being told several
decades after the event. Artie tries to keep Vladek's story as authentic
as possible.
Watch this video and listen to VLADEK's VOICE...Art Spiegelman discusses his creation of the book.People tend to remember events with which they emotionally connect very vividly. How is this true for Vladek?
What tendencies of Vladek's demonstrate to the reader that Vladek not only had vivid memories of his experiences during WWII but also carries the "baggage" of that experience with him on a daily basis?
Respond with textual evidence in MLA format in 75-100 words (pick valuable words...blog posts are concise).
Note: Image here is Vladek in 1972 the year Art began to interview him for the book.
Vladek has had many troubles concerning the past and his emotional connections. He used to a business man, and during the Holocaust, he had to save everything that he owned. During his lifetime in 1978, he still saves everything and throws away anything that is not of any use.
ReplyDeleteAt one point in the book, Art and Vladek are talking about the Holocaust. Vladek literally says that he is feeling sick and wants to stop for the day. This shows that even from thinking about the past, Vladek can constantly mentally experience huge pains. (95 words)
Jimmy Williams
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Vladek has many bad experiences in the Holocaust. He vividly remembers everything, even though he does not tell it in chronological order. Vladek kept his memories because they couldn't leave them. They were too horrific to forget. One memory that was hard to forget was when Vladek was severely beaten by a Nazi guard while he was at a work camp. (Maus II, p.57) This was particularly hard for Vladek because Anja could have received the same beating had she been caught talking to him. Vladek had hard times dealing with these kinds of situations.(95)
Brandon Philo
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Events that trigger our emotions are contained more vividly in our memories. When Vladek is in Auschwitz, he feels some sense of joy when he finds out that his prison number, totaling eighteen, is the Hebrew number for Chai, meaning life. Though he is miserable this is an emotionally positive occurrence that Vladek recalls. He does constantly carry baggage of the terrible things that happen at Auschwitz, such as being beating by a guard while caught talking to Anja. Almost all of Vladek’s experience are emotionally painful, though some brought him a slight sense of happiness. (96)
Ryan DeRienzo
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I agree with Brandon that events trigger our emotions and we remember then more vividly that we would other dull events. When he was told by the priest that his number was lucky, that triggered some happy emotions in his memory. Even though he survived the war, he was still miserable during the war. He was beaten by guards multiple times and many of the people who helped him in the camps died. Most of Valdek's memories are horrible about the war, he still survived with his wife Anja, and they lived happily after the war. I think that Valdek was very lucky to have all of these happy memories to divert him from all of the horrible ones. (119)
Keoni Hughes
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Valdek's memories demonstrate how WW2 and the holocaust affected his life physically and emotionally. For example in the holocaust in Maus 1 when he is starved and given clothes that don't fit but barely gets by because he can help the gaurds out with English and in return get food and nice fitting clothes. Valdek unfortunately doesn't avoid the emotional destruction that he endures through WW2 and his image and mind suffers from this. Valdek's memories show that he had to do anything possible to get by and he did.
(94)
DeleteVladek remembers the holocaust so accurately because it was a traumatic time for him. Everyday he woke up and wasn't sure whether he or Anja would live another day. He saw some of the most terrible examples of brutality and things a person shouldn’t see and can’t un-see. After the holocaust and up to the day he died he didn't like to throw things away because he never new if he would use it later. This is because in the camps they could trade and little things made the difference between life and death. (94)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Big Tim for a few reasons. First of all, the holocaust was not only a traumatic time for the entire Jewish race, but to be specific, Vladek. Vladek endured the vigorous pain that came along with the holocaust, and he made it through that. One major factor that I agree with was that Vladek had to take care of Anja, being the man. In addition to looking out for Anja's life, Vladek had to work hard to protect his own life. Vladek valued all his posessions, no matter what it was, because of him not knowing if it would become useful in the future. This just showed that this would be the outcome, whether Vladek was going to live or whether he was going to die. (120)
DeleteDaniel Ackerman
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In both Maus I and Maus II it is obvious that Vladek hasn't forgotten his past. He tells his story to Artie with such vivid detail that he has to stop because remembering such horrible scenes begins to hurt him. He remembers perfectly when he was beaten by the guards as well as when they treated him well for teaching english to the Nazis. Artie said that his father bleeds history since remembering his history is painful for him so that very well paints a picture in my mind that Vladek carried with his past until he died. (98)
Jorge Ahuage
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In Maus I and II, Vladek is interviewed for his hateful adventure in Auschwitz. With great detail he remembers almost every important memory he had. Artie, his son, began to ask him questions regarding his memory of the fearful past. Brutal scenes were described by Vladek. He thought Auschwitz would be his final destination. But when he received the news that Anja was alive, he was filled with hope.
No one deserves to be abused and murdered the way the Jews were. To the day that Vladek died, he never wasted food. An example is in Maus 1 when Anja, Vladek and their son was eating, and Vladek was forcing his son to eat the food when his son didn’t want to. (122)
Octavio Martinez
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The Holocaust was something that, Vladek, remembered almost too well, because everything that was contained in the Maus books was very detailed. He seemed to remember almost every detail of it, even though it was a while ago, but sometimes could not recall instances that happened a day ago. It was traumatic for Vladek, and that permanently stained his memory. After the Holocaust, he kept the habit of appreciating what you have. Because people remember what they are most used to, means that the Holocaust was most of what, Vladek, knew. He was traumatized for life. (100)
We know that Vladek had vivid memories of his experience in the Holocaust cause he told Artie everything with per sis detail about what happened. We also know the Holocaust made a deep impact on him cause he remember what happened back then but forgets what happened a couple a days ago. Also seeing people die every night when he went to bed in Maus II and having to walk across them to go to the bathroom. Seeing people get beaten also left a deep impact on Vladek. He can also recall when he was treated well at some points when he was teaching the Nazi how to speak English. (110)
ReplyDeleteIn Maus I and II Vladek goes through many traumatic things like the holocaust and the killing of his people. People emotionally connect to significant things in their lives. Just like we could remember when we got married or someone died in our Family Vladek remembers his experience in the holocaust clearly. One example is how Vladek has trouble throwing things away because from the Holocaust he never knows when hes gonna need something. Figuratively the ghost of his past still haunt him and have made a permanent impact on his life even after things were over. Another example of how things carried over in his life is how he made Artie eat every single thing on his plate and always finish his food. This is like Aushwitz where you needed to eat everything because you didn't know if you were ever going to get your next meal.
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DeleteDylan Bell
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From listening to the voice of Vladek, I was able hear the deep emotion that was ingrained in his mind from his traumatic experiences during WWII and The Holocaust. As Spiegelman references in this audio file, memories are not chronological and people often remember things in bits and pieces. Spiegelman stated that Vladek jumped around and changed directions when telling his traumatic stories about Auschwitz. This would seem true since he had so many of them. Hearing Vladek's voice made his experience of Auschwitz real especially when he spoke about the bus that they were on, the small windows, how men and women were jammed together and as they approached Auschwitz they knew that if they went in, they would not come out. As Spiegelman noted, the visual images of traumatic events makes them more real and this is what he did in his books Maus I and Maus II. On page 51 of Maus II, Vladek refers to Auschwitz as a "death place with Jews waiting for gas". The pictures and words in Maus I and II are graphic and help bring emotion to the reader. Overall, Vladek carries the "baggage" of his traumatic experiences during the Holocaust every day because the images, smells, sounds and horror are forever lasting in his mind. I am pretty sure that he must have post traumatic stress disorder from what he experienced. (234)
Nicholas Fudge
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The impact of emotion and fear on memory can be seen in many places, like peoples' ability to flawlessly describe even minute details of what was happening to them when they heard about 9/11, or extensive accounts of the Holocaust like the book "All But My Life". Vladek clearly also remembered his experiences in the Holocaust very well, since they were enough for Art Spiegelman to draw a two graphic novels about. In many parts of the novels, Vladek is unhappy as he recounts the deaths of his friends and family. He is especially saddened by the deaths of Richieu, his son, and of his father. After he tells Art about his father's death, he gets tired and asks to stop for the day, showing that still he is damaged by his experiences.(133)
Omega Yimer
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Vladek definitely connected emotionally with the events in his past. In Maus 1, Vladek convinces Anja out of suicide. “To die is easy”, he said to her, “But you have to struggle for life”(p.124), meaning that you shouldn’t fall subject to the easy way out, but should fight through the difficulties. Also, Vladek’s past will stay with him always because he is not only physically weak he is psychologically traumatized. Many of his illnesses and injuries were directly caused by his experience at the concentration camps. His compulsiveness to make things perfect such as counting pills and sorting nails is a behavioral tendency that demonstrates the “baggage” he carries. (109 words)
Alex Peters
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Vladek had a very traumatic experience in the Holocaust.he could not forget anything if he tried. the Holocaust was a very traumatic time for everyone involved. It was no different for Vladek he might not of said everything in chronological order but he did not forget it.A memory that he did not forget was when he was beaten by a guard at one of the camps. It was a traumatic experience so he did not for get it.(78)
Vladek went through a terrible experience in the Holocaust. Because of this he has trouble remembering all of the event that he witnessed in Auschwitz clearly. Artie said himself it was like playing a pinball game trying to juggle the ball and try not to let it get trapped in a corner. The "Baggage" that he carries around is the PTSD of all of the memories and horrific events he witnessed. Also he might not want to remember part of the memories he had in Auschwitz maybe because he had a friend die or he was tortured. (97)
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ReplyDeleteHearing this interview of Vladek talking about his past experiences of traveling to Auschwitz, he sounds very alive talking about it. It doesn't come across him as not that big of a deal. He knew going to Auschwitz that the end was near, he knew about Auschwitz and he knew what was inside the concentration camp. As when the interviewer asked him the question of if he knew about the showers, and he responded, "Yes, sure, we knew everything". (about Auschwitz) So looking back at a time of feeling frightful of his almost inescapable death, he knows that he is one of the lucky few. (105)
DeleteI agree that he put a lot of emotion into the telling of his story.
DeleteBen Giammarinaro: During his time throughout WW2, he explains many detailed scenery and vivid imagery. For instance, he talks a lot about his past, like it is still the past. He tends to forget that it was over. That he was done and through those years. Or when he talks about his time in the concentration camps. He has specific details, detailed imagery of the place. Such as the " giant dirt holes".(71)
ReplyDeleteAll the readers could tell that Artie wanted the most authentic story that his father could give him but the most difficult obstacle was his dad's memory. Not only did Artie want a authentic story for his readers he also wanted a unique story that's why he added little twists and putting some symbolism in, he also most importantly made the Jews mice. We could tell that he had vivid memorie because first off he told Artie everything that happened and he made two books out of it, he talks about it for multiple days as well knowing exactly where he left off ( with some assistance). (106)
ReplyDeleteChase Colbert
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Vladek had been through a lot in the concentration camps, and it was clear that he had a very vivid memory of everything that went on. One thing that surprised me was how it seemed that he was not to upset about the topic. This showed how strong he was as a person. He was asked if he knew about all the death in the camps and he simply said yes I did but he was one of the lucky ones. (82)
I wasn't surprised that his memory of these events was so visit, because it would be very hard to be in such a situation and forget about it.
DeleteAll of the things that Vladek went through definitely made an impact on his life after. When speaking about what he experienced, the things trigger emotions. Remembering happier parts of his life is okay but when it comes to the holocaust and the events of it, many things can be hard to speak of. Vladek takes breaks when necessary because of these emotions. Sometimes, he lets them get to him and he can't go on until he's refreshed and ready to speak of the horrors again.
ReplyDeleteVladek is telling his story with great detail and vivid imagery that it is obvious that he is strongly connected to what happened to him in the holocaust. He is having to take breaks very often because of how hard it is for him to talk about it. He has to carry this baggage around with him wherever he goes. The holocaust made him who he is. When Vladek was in the holocaust he lost everything he had, so now that he is older anything he has he tries to keep. He keeps things that might be useful to him later. Artie drops a dish and Vladek says "Don't throw away! I can glue still together that plate." (Maus II Pg. 73)
ReplyDeleteWhen Vladek is walking down the street with Artie Vladek picks up wiring that could be used to tie things, he probably gets this from the concentration camps where something that may not be useful to other people is useful to him. Vladek was also very humble, and didn't speak out about the Nazis in the Camps.
ReplyDeleteVladek has been affected by these events so much that he has become an uptight and rigid man. He's dependent on others for company and daily needs. The war has shaped in a way that he is weary of everything. He wants to keep everything he has left. Artie and Vladek have argued quite a few times while at Vladek's home. Artie and Vladek have had to take breaks because of this, Vladek is no longer able to converse normally with even his own son.(85)
ReplyDeleteJacob Suarez
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