Answer TWO of the following as a Comment below:
1. In Chapter Three, "And Here My Troubles Began," Vladek hassles Artie to take home a used box of Special K cereal. When Artie angrily refuses, Vladek responds, "I cannot forget it...ever since Hitler I don't like to throw out even a crumb." How much can we blame the Holocaust for the 'present' Vladek we find in these chapters--one who is often boorish, intolerant, and downright racist? Why do you think Artie so often contradicts the heroic 'past' Vladek with the one in the present?
2. What do you make of the interesting passage in Chapter Three, where a soldier shoots a prisoner for walking too slowly. As the prisoner flails desperately on the ground, Vladek remarks, "And now I thought: "how amazing it is that a human being reacts the same like this neighbor's dog."" Considering this breaks down the animal metaphor, why does he highlight this specific connection? How might this connect to some larger themes in the book about race/humanity?
3. Though surviving the Holocaust was often a matter of sheer luck, how does Chapter Three prove that Vladek's attention to detail and quick wits were instrumental in saving his life? How do these qualities show that staying alive is more than surviving, it being a critical aware, responsible human being?
4. Chapters Three and Four also use photographs--a kind of comic book frame--to tell part of the story. How do these photographs (mostly drawn photographs, but also the real one of Vladek) add a unique layer to the story? What do they show us that no amount of fictional storytelling could manage?
Amory Morgan
ReplyDelete1. I think Artie contradicts them because he only knows his father now and after the Holocaust. He doesn't understand what he went through, how scared he was for his life at one time. How he never got to eat so now he is all about saving and making sure things last. He is a hoarder and has a lot of OCD tendencies. I don't think it's very fair for us to say Vdlek is an ass. I really liked him. He loved his son a lot and went through a lot of things that we will never understand.
4. I think it shows us that it was really real. And that he is a real person, anyone can write a semi true comic book and say it's real. But if you don't add elements for example a photograph then you don't really get the "feel" for it being real. Once you get to see their pictures you get to really picture in your mind better that it really happened.
1. I imagine the aggressive and judgmental qualities displayed by Vladek were useful in the Holocaust setting, but the personality type isn't necessarily the most beneficial in everyday American life. Vladek's thriftiness (and racism) reminds me of my own grandparents, brought up in the Depression/WWII conservation era. Once behaviors are learned and are beneficial to a certain lifestyle, they can be very difficult to break when the lifestyle changes--behaviors don't switch so suddenly, they become a part of our identity.
ReplyDelete2. This passage exemplifies the attitude toward death during the Holocaust. For a lot of people, death is tragic and if you see it, it messes you up a little. However, it seems the survivors, and the perpetrators, were numb to death. Vladek reminds us that we're simply living beings that are capable of dying, just like any other animal. Page 95 reminds me of the same concept; the dead bodies are just anonymous obstacles in Vladek's way, but he knows he doesn't want to be one of them. When emotion was no longer attached to the event of death, perhaps Vladek gained more courage to take the necessary steps to avoid it.
Josh Coats
ReplyDelete1. Vladek was forever shaped by the effects of the Holocaust. I think all of his characteristics could be directly related. If he hadn't gone through the Holocaust, I don't think he would be so boorish and miserly. Artie only knows his father before and after the Holocaust, which would account for why he contradicts his father.
2. Death and the Holocaust are one in the same. I think Vladek seeing the death of another prisoner indicates he no longer feels the same about death, death has taken on a completely different definition. He no longer has the same connection with death; the death of someone else is a relief for Vladek because another prisoner down gives him more opportunity to survive.
Nikki Ennis
ReplyDelete1. I believe that surviving something so horrible, seeing the things Vladek saw, doing the things Vladek was forced to do, would make anyone bitter and difficult with time. I believe that a large part, if not all, of Vladek's negative qualities are a direct result of the Holocaust and what he experienced there. That kind of trauma is something that you couldn't help but carry with you for the rest of your life, and its something you couldn't help but let influence who you are.
4. The pictures, especially the real one, show us that these people were real people who really lived through this, or perished in it. They remind us that this isn't just some story a guy dreamed up. This is a true one.
A lot of Holocost victims have the same tendancies as those that went through the Great Depression in American, they learned to survive by not wasting anything and utilizing every resource they have. I dont feel that this is what America today is like, that people are so used to having things they take them for granted. I dont think it's a bad thing for him to be this way. He comes across as an ass and too pushy but if you realize what he went through, one would understand.
ReplyDeleteStefan Schodlbauer
ReplyDelete1) First of all, we have to take into account how tough it was to survive in that time. So, with that said, we can analyze that Vladek was feeling really bad with all that things happening in his life. As we know, he was obligated to so stuff that he did not wanted to do. I believe, that before judging someone, we have to be in his or her position.
2) As we know, I think that everyone in this world are or have been scared of death in one moment of his or her life. In that period of time, in the Holocaust, death was something normal, because the amount of people that died in that years was incredible. For sure, Vladek looking the death of the prisoner changed his point of view radically.
Zach Martin
ReplyDelete2. I think he wants to highlight the connection because of its unique connection to how the jews were treated. As if the soldier was the human and the jew was the neighbors dog. The Jews weren't treated as human in the Holocaust, but treated as animals to the slaughter. Germans didnt respect them like they would respect another German, but treated them like the whimpy dog your neighbor has that everyone has a kick out of torturing.
3.These characteristics enabled Vladek to get on the good side of the guards. Like in chapters 1 and 2 where e became the tinman and the shoemaker. He proved he was a valuable resource to the people that were in charge where he was stationed at the times so they would keep him around longer than the others. Every other slave didnt show any value, so they were killed off quickly. Since he was a valuable resource to some of the guards, they didnt want him to be sent off to die.
Stephanie Callen
ReplyDelete1. In Chapter Three, "And Here My Troubles Began," Vladek hassles Artie to take home a used box of Special K cereal. When Artie angrily refuses, Vladek responds, "I cannot forget it...ever since Hitler I don't like to throw out even a crumb." How much can we blame the Holocaust for the 'present' Vladek we find in these chapters--one who is often boorish, intolerant, and downright racist? Why do you think Artie so often contradicts the heroic 'past' Vladek with the one in the present?
I think the Holocaust is very much to blame for the present Vladek. He stayed so hungry for so long that he will probably never throw away a crumb of food. The traumatic and devastating things that he witnessed is something that he will never forget and has forever changed who he is.
4. Chapters Three and Four also use photographs--a kind of comic book frame--to tell part of the story. How do these photographs (mostly drawn photographs, but also the real one of Vladek) add a unique layer to the story? What do they show us that no amount of fictional storytelling could manage?
The photographs make the story more personal and help you to realize that this happened to real people. They help the reader to connect the comic with real life.
Michelle Wyant
ReplyDelete1. I think that we could totally blame the Holocaust for the present day Vladek. It took everything that Vladek had to survive but it took some of the human being along with it. Artie contradicts it because he doesn’t understand what it means to be hungry, cold, and scared for his life every second of every day. Artie just sees a man who can’t stand to spend money on things that he doesn’t seem fit, because he was so use to saving and having to scavenge everything that he could because that’s what he got use to doing during the war.
3. Vladek survived because he was able to do many things and although he may not of been a master of any of them he still was able to do enough to keep him on the good side of the guards. Even when things weren’t so great he was able to talk his way out of things by trading things like food. For instance when he was left on the train he made good to get himself in a position to where he knew he would hopefully survive, even though he was terribly sick with typhus. To stay alive and survive are two different things in the case of the Holocaust. Yes there were survivors but were they still alive as human beings? For some yes but for others no. Some were able to move on with their lives and tried to get past the bad things; however many who survived were not truly alive on the inside and couldn’t handle the stress and ended their lives anyway.
Weston Haynes
ReplyDelete1.) Vladek is clearly traumatized and affected by the Holocaust. Being in that horrible state most of the time proved to have taken its toll on Vladek. He was always hungry, and doesn't feel right to waste any more of what is given to him. He is different, but being in a horrible situation for a long duration can do that to a person. The Holocaust definitely has blame.
2.) Vladek makes this particular remark, because he thinks to himself how could someone be so cruel. The people that were committing these atrocious acts weren't humans, they were definitely something else. Vladek and many other Holocaust victims of this time were so used to the stench of death, that it was as painful as seeing a dog or animal die. It is sad, but a part of life at the same time. I believe that some victims began to thought that this was a predestined death. This was how they were supposed to die. It became so common, that there must have been some questionable divine thoughts. It begins to evolve into a game for Vladek. He doesn't think about death but survival. He sees it as one prisoner down and more of an opportunity to strive and have more portions of food and water, but also at the same time one step closer to death. You have to have the courage to strive for survival, but with so much death, it is easy to think that you are next and it is unavoidable. Death was everywhere, and emotions didn't matter anymore. Another victim, another death, and another unfortunate day.
1. I completely believe that the reason for the way he is was because of the Holocaust it would be extremely hard to live threw that and not change i mean smaller less significant things can change a person just think someone who was cheated on and had their heart broke for the first time changes they become less trusting so you can only imagine what how something like that could change a person
ReplyDelete2. I believe death had become something so common that it wasn't really shocking anymore its like running over a squirrel you felt bad for about a second or two then you move on with your life like it never happened
1.) I think that the holocaust was the reason for many of Vladek's new traits, and I think that once you start a new one it's kind of hard to break from it. And you can't really blame him, I mean he was literally tortured and whipped and was worked like a slave, and treated well, like a rat/mouse. However, that doesn't mean that he himself should be racist and the like, despite his race being looked down upon, I think he should have been able to see the world in a different light.
ReplyDeleteAshley Barnes
ReplyDelete1. I think the dramatic switch between Vladek during the Holocaust and then present day with Artie shows the extent of how deeply it affected him in every aspect of his life, from saving every little thing to and not wanting to waste and just the way he saves his money. The back and forth somewhat explains why he is the way he is. To Vladek he is just trying to survive still but now the immensity of the situation has changed. the way Vladek behaves is hard to understand because he never went through that and doesn't see the need in doing what Vladek does.
4. The pictures of the family make It more personal, not only do we see Vladek as a person and in his stripped uniform but It also tells the background stories of most of the family members in the pictures that were lost in the Holocaust or directly because of it, and that all that is left of them is memories of an old man who experienced it and a few photographs.