Chapter 1 Art Spiegelman isnt quite sure how to begin his book about his parents experience during

the Holocaust. He is on vacation with his wife some of her friends when Arts father Vladek fakes a heart attack to make sure Art would call him back. Arts stepmother left Vladek with lots of their money. Art, his wife and Vladek work on preparing his bank papers, after a few hours Vladek and Art begin to argue with each other. Then Arts wife Francoise offers to check the bank paper their arguing about and suggests Art and Vladek go on a walk. Then Art asks his father if he would mind talking about what happened to him and his mom while they were in Auschwitz. Vladek said his son could ask him anything. Vladek and his wife Anja were on their way to Hungary, because the escape route was supposedly safe; however they were caught in March 1944 and brought to the gates of Auschwitz. One day the Kapo, a supervisor wanted to learn English, he already knew German and Polish but if America won the war he thought it would be worth something to know English. The Kapo befriended Vladek, therefore he gave him food, clothes that fit and a pair of leather shoes instead of a wooden pair. Vladek asked the Kapo if he could have a belt, a spoon, and a pair of wooden shoes for his friend Mandelbaum, because his pants were too big, causing him to have to hold his pants up all day. Then someone stole his spoon which he needed to eat his soup and a spoon gets you a half days bread. Plus Mandelbaums shoes were two different sizes, one was really big, but he was still able to wear it and the other shoe was too small, therefore causing him to walk around in the snow with one shoe on and one shoe off in the winter snow. Even though the Kapo was reluctant at first he said he could lose the spoon and belt, however Vladek will have to bring back Mandelbaums old pair of shoes the next day. Eventually Mandelbaum was chosen to do work; Vladek never saw Mandelbaum again. After two months the Kapo told Vladek that he kept him in the Quarantine block for as long as he could and hell have to be assigned to a work crew, the skilled workers get better treatment. Vladek said he could do anything once he was showed how to do it, he told the Kapo that he worked in the wood shop in the ghetto and he was a tin smith in Sosnowiec. The Kapo told Vladek hell see what he can do to get him a job as a skilled worker.

Vladek was bilingual; therefore he was able to get special treatment from the Kapo in his section of the camp. He got more food from the Kapo, he got clothes that fit, leather shoes, and the Kapo helped potentially save Vladeks life by having him hide in the Kapos room when the S.S. soldiers came to get workers (usually those chosen to work, died). The Kapo kept Vladek safe for two months, while Vladek taught him English. In an article I found it stated, The ability to know another language helps maintain international relationships, and it helps extremely with your career. Vladek was able to talk to a Polish man and teach him English, which helped save his life, in the modern day we live in now being bilingual can help you get a

job or help you with your career, especially if you are competing with monolinguals. In another article I read it stated, In her research paper, 'Reshaping the Mind: The Benefits of Bilingualism', Ellen Bialystok states that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in tasks based on applying executive control. The Kapo was able to get his position, even as a prisoner in Auschwitz, because he was bilingual, he spoke German and Polish. It is definitely quite helpful to be bilingual. The Nazis had the power to capture Vladek and his wife, Anja, along with many others to Auschwitz. The Kapo of the concentration camp in which Vladek was assigned to live in, had the power to speak both German and Polish, receiving the job as a Kapo. Vladek had the power to speak Polish and English which potentially saved his life.
http://laslatinitas.com/teens/importance-of-being-bilingual http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-being-bilingual.html

Chapter 2 It is February 1987, and Art Spiegelman has published his first MAUS book, he is working on MAUS II. Art has been feeling quite depressed. He is constantly overwhelmed by reporters, interviewers, and business people. After his stressful session with various business people, he goes to his to his psychiatrist, Pavel, who is a Jewish Holocaust survivor. They discuss various subjects, such as Arts depression, Arts mental blockage from continuing the story, and how he feels that no matter what he accomplishes it will never compare to Vladek surviving the Holocaust. He feels that his father had a sense of guilt for surviving. Pavel tells Art that survival in the Holocaust wasnt based on skills or resources, but luck. After leaving the psychiatrist, Art listens to the tapes of the recorded conversations of his father. Vladek is working in the tin shop, but is not trained. The chief tinmen, Yidl realizes that Vladek doesnt know what he is doing. Yidl despises Vladek. Vladek understands that Yidl has power over him. He makes arrangements with some of the Polish workers from the nearby towns for food and gives this to Yidl to improve their relationship. Food is a means of power over the prisoners. The rations are insufficient and the guards are brutal to the Jews. Anja is at a nearby camp known as Birkenau, about two miles away from Auschwitz. This camp is a known waiting area for the gas chambers. Anja is frail and unable to complete the tasks that are assigned to her so she is beaten often. When Anja works in the kitchen she brings scraps of food out to her friends. Vladek is chosen to help repair roofs that caved in at Birkenau, he tells her to save the scraps for herself. He says that everyone is looking out for their own survival. He tells Anja that she needs to stay for him, she tells him that just seeing him and knowing that he is alive gives her strength. Later on when Vladek was in Birkenau again he sees Anja, they spoke for a minute and he told her that he thinks of her always. When a guard notices that Vladek and Anja are

talking, he beats Vladek with a club. So far, Vladek is able to remain relatively strong and is able to avoid the gas chamber. He consoles a fellow prisoner whose number is taken down due to a rash on his body. Vladek tries to console him, but the next day, the guards take the other prisoner away. Vladek notices there is an empty shoemaker work shop near the tinsmith work place. Vladek asks the Kapo in charge of the workshops if he can become the shoemaker. Vladek shoes the Kapo his skills on how to repair a shoe, which isnt much, however Vladek is able to get a new job! He is excellent at making shoe repairs. Anjas Kapo is still treating her poorly for every small infraction. Anja suggests that she send her shoes that are in need of repair to Vladek in Auschwitz. The shoes come back as good as new and the Kapo treats Anja far better from that point on. Vladek saves food and cigarettes to bribe the guards. He is finally able to have his wife, Anja brought over to Auschwitz. Vladek threw her food packages, and is spotted by the guards. The guard is furious and makes the prisoners do exercise until they are exhausted. This continues for days, but no one turns her in. The tinshop is closed. Vladek must then perform heavy labor carrying stones and digging holes. He becomes very thin. He hides in the bathroom to avoid possibly getting chosen to go to the gas chamber. Vladek described the gas chambers. He worked again as a tinsman when the Russians liberated the camp. He took apart the machines in the gas chambers. Art asks his father why the Jews didnt resist, and Vladek responds that they couldnt believe what was happening around them. They had hoped that they would be liberated. Resistance would surely lead to death. Another mastery of power on the part of the Nazis to suppress the prisoners to the point that they were unable to work together and/or resist their captures. The lasting power and evil of the Nazi regime impacts the next generation, Art Spiegelman, who was not even born during the Holocaust! The power of the Holocaust impacts Anjas depression and eventual suicide and then the survivors guilt is passed to the next generation. In chapter two Vladek and Anja are able to see each other multiple times. Vladek is relieved to know that his wife is alive and he thinks about her always. Before Anja heard that her husband was alive she was really tempted to run into the electric fence and finish her life right then and there, however knowing he was alive changed everything! Knowing that Vladek was alive gave her hope! Finally when she saw her husband it gave her strength, and Vladek told her to try to keep herself as strong as possible for him. I connected this chapter to a song called, Dont Stop by Fleetwood Mac. The song talks how you should think about the future if times are getting bad; dont worry about whats currently taking place or what has already happened. Some verses that really stuck out are the ones highlighted.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow, Don't stop, it'll soon be here, It'll be, better than before, Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone. Why not think about times to come, And not about the things that you've done, If your life was bad to you, Just think what tomorrow will do.

All I want is to see you smile, If it takes just a little while, I know you don't believe that it's true, I never meant any harm to you. Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow, Don't stop, it'll soon be here, It'll be, better than before, Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow, Don't stop, it'll soon be here, Don't you look back, It'll be, better than before, Don't you look back. Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/fleetwood+mac/dont+stop_20054276.html I feel that this song fits the couples situation. The song says Dont stop, thinking about tomorrow yesterdays gone all I want is to see you smile, if it takes just a little while, I know you dont believe that its true. Anja was going to commit suicide, however knowing her husband was alive gave her hope and strength, Vladek wanted his wife to stay strong for his sake, because he was trying to think of what was to come, if they were to survive then they would then be able to live happily ever after, he wanted to her to stay alive and think about the future and not the pain going on at the time! The Holocaust had the power to separate some millions of people form their loved ones, however Anja and Vladek had the power to overcome such an obstacle even if the two were in separate concentration camps. Vladek had the power to get food to get him on their good side. Anja and Vladek have the power to stay alive for each other! Sometimes things in life have the power to make life a horrible thing, taking away all happiness, and it seems like the only thing that wasnt sucked away is sadness and the dark. However the sun has to rise again, bringing light, hope, love, happiness, and of course life! After everything is said and done evil doesnt have enough power to overcome good, because a storm cant last forever, it doesnt have the power to do so! Hitler didnt have enough power to fulfill his plan of destruction and pain! Chapter 3 Vladek is able to return the food to the store that Mala left him after he explains to the owner about his Holocaust experience. When the Russian army was close to freeing the prisoners, the Nazis take the prisoners on a march for miles through the freezing weather and snow to a smaller camp in Germany.

They are then forced onto a train. There is no food or water for a week during the ride. He survives by making a hammock with his blanket so that he is above the fellow Jews on the ride. He is able to take snow from the top of the car to use as water. Only twenty five people make it out of the car alive. Vladek has become a master at trading items for survival. It is by learning to trade that he is able to secure a clean shirt that can be used at meal times. Any prisoner having lice on his shirt was not fed. He tries to get to the infirmary by making the infection in his hand worse than it was, but he is discovered so he allows his hand to heal. He still has a scare from this infection. He contracts typhus, which becomes a deadly disease for many in Dachau. He goes back and forth to the bathroom having to step over the bodies of the dead. He is eventually taken to the infirmary, where he lies for days. He is too weak to eat and is close to death. However, he was still able to use the food that he had saved as bribes. He had someone help him down from his bed and across to the train to take him to Switzerland to be exchanged as a prisoner of war. The ability to survive broke down the common bonds between one person to the next, their common religion, friendship, and any Jewish community that had been established was supplanted by the struggle to survive. Manice was one example of true self giving. She passed notes and food to Anja without payment. This at any time could have had her killed. She kept Anja by her side through their own march from Birkenau which kept her alive. In this chapter, Vladek is depicted as a racist when he reacts to the African American hitchhiker. He has been the victim of horrendous racism, but then judges all black people as thieves because he had his valuables stolen from him in NYC by African Americans when he first came to the city. My multimedia piece for chapter three is a news report on a black man (Chikwanha E. Nyashanu ) holding a white man at gunpoint, demanding that he apologize, for all the things white people did to black people. In the article it stated, The victim told officers he believes he was targeted because he was the only white person walking in the area, and Nyashanu would have demanded an apology from someone else if he hadnt been there. Regardless, the victim told officers he doesnt think the crime was racially motivated. But, officers could find no other evidence for the attack and believe the victim was threatened based on his perceived race and color. [Emphasis added] I believe that Chikwanha Nyashanu was most likely discriminated against in his life, therefore he felt the need to make white people apologize things they had done to black people! Vladek discriminated against black people, because when he first moved to New York, some black people stole his belongings. Vladek became furious after his daughter-in-law let a black hitchhiker into her car. The two both felt entitled to potentially discriminate against another race, even after what has happened to them. Chikwanha E. Nyashanu had the power to hold another man at gunpoint. Vladek had the power to discriminate against another race even after going through the Holocaust. Unfortunately racism exists and has the power to cause much destruction, pain, and ruin many peoples lives, the Holocaust, of course, is a very good example.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/16/terrified-man-said-to-have-been-held-atgunpoint-until-he-apologized-for-all-the-things-white-people-did-to-black-people/
Chapter 4

Vladek is lonely and depressed as he talks with his son about his life. He is wondering why he has saved his whole life if he will die from diabetes and lack of oxygen. Art continues to question his father about Holocaust information. He asks about his mother and how she survives. Vladek is unsure exactly how Anja survived the end of the war. He knows that she marched through Gross-Rosen with the help of Mancie. She was released to the Russians and then made her way back to Sosnowiec. He was never able to find Mancie to express his gratitude after the war. Vladek had several encounters with the German army on his way to the Swiss border. He was made to stand for hours by the German guards. Twice he was held by guards, but by the next morning the guards left him and his friend Shivek. Finally they come upon an empty house where they find chickens to eat and food. They dress in the clothes left in the house. The Americans use the house as a base camp. When the owner of the house returns she accuses them of stealing her husbands clothes. They give back the ones that they are wearing since they have taken other clothes and put them in suitcases! Vladek shows his son a box of old photos and talks about the fate of family and friends. He then gets a pain in his chest. He has to take his medicine and rest. The storm windows will have to wait for another time. His son uses his power/selfishness in this chapter to obtain more information from his father. He doesnt help his father with the storm windows and resists his fathers requests for help. He suggests that his father pay for a nurse to attend to his health. Art doesnt want to be inconvenienced by his father. The Holocaust along with the death of his wife as greatly impacted Vladek. The power of these two events on his personality is immense. His wife had a long history of depression. After the birth of Richieu she had to be hospitalized for the depression. Vladek had changed from the war. He no longer was able to provide her with the emotional support that she needed. The impact of having so many relatives die in the Holocaust had a huge impact on her depression. Even though luck is suggested as a critical factor in determining his survival, I want to suggest that his resourcefulness, skills with people, trading abilities and cleverness greatly increased his chances of survival. Also, I will add that part of his lifes purpose may have been to help document the Holocaust. Vladek showed Art numerous photographs of family and friends that perished in the Holocaust. The only thing left of their direct family members were the pictures. All of Anjas side of the family perished in the Holocaust, except for her nephew, Vladeks family members also perished during the Holocaust, only him and his little brother Pinek Spiegelman. My multimedia is the song, "Photographs and Memories" by Jim Croce.

Photographs and memories Christmas cards you sent to me All that I have are these To remember you Memories that come at night Take me to another time Back to a happier day When I called you mine But we sure had a good time When we started way back when Morning walks and bedroom talks Oh, how I loved you then

Summer skies and lullabies Nights we couldn't say goodbye And of all of the things that we knew Not a dream survived Photographs and memories All the love you gave to me Somehow it just can't be true That's all I've left of you But we sure had a good time When we started way back when Morning walks and bedroom talks Oh, how I loved you then

http://www.metrolyrics.com/photographs-and-memories-lyrics-jim-croce.html The song describes how the speaker only has pictures and memories left of a loved one, that they lived in a much happier time. Vladek only has some pictures left of his side of the family and his wife, Anjas family. The Holocaust had the power to negatively affect millions of people and history forever. The concentration camps had the power to take the lives of entire families! Survivors of the Holocaust had the power to become depressed, however they also had the power to look at photographs of loved ones and remember the good memories before everything changed.
Chapter 5

Vladek is in Florida and very sick. Art receives a phone call from Mala. She tells him that his father has been admitted to the hospital with water in his lungs. When Art arrives in Florida, his father had discharged himself from the hospital and wants to go back to New York to his other doctor whom he trusts. After getting a flight to New York, Vladeks oxygen is not working on the plane. However, he refuses to get off of the flight. He rechecks his oxygen and says that it is working. His doctor in New York performs tests and sends him home. About a month later, Art visits his father again for the first time since Florida. Vladek often gets confused these days. Vladek explains to Art his life after the war. He is told that he is having a relapse of the Typhus. A year later he is diagnosed with diabetes. Shivek and Vladek board a freight train to find Anja. He sends a picture of himself in concentration camp-style pinstripes and a letter to Sosnowiec. Anja waits for her husband to come home, she is afraid is dead. She goes to a gypsy, because she wants at least some hope. The gypsy tells her that he is alive and coming home! Vladek is reunited with his wife after about four weeks through Poland and the help of the Sosnowiec Jewish Organization, the moment the two are reunited everyone begins to cry tears of joy! Vladek ends his story, by calling Art his dead brothers name and saying, its

enough stories for now. Spiegelman has up to this point made the drawings of the Jews generic consisting of eyes, mouth, nose, and whiskers. By making the Jews mice rather than people, he was able to remove the readers ability to fully identify with the main characters of the story. However, in this chapter, he places the picture of his father. The story is then no longer about an anonymous mouse but the story of a man with a face. The pain and suffering can be associated with Vladek and his experiences. The picture forces the reader to remember that millions of people were affected by the Holocaust. That the death, destruction, starvation, pain happened to millions of individuals, each with their own friends, families, hopes, goals and dreams. It was easier for me to see pictures of dead cartoon animals than real people as I read through the book. Vladeks personality was altered by the impact of the Holocaust. He survived, but at a great cost. The picture of Richieu in the front of the book reminds us of those individuals who died. As Vladek calls Art his brothers name that died in the Holocaust, he probably thinks of his dead son and the events of the Holocaust often. I connected chapter five to a song called, Love Will Find a Way by Lionel Richie. Are you feeling down, and lonely. Feeling like you cant go on. Just remember love will find a way. Tell me are you going through changes. Time seems like its passing by. Just believe that love will find a way. (bridge) I see the tears you cry. I see the pain thats in your eyes. So many times you were so lonely. And no one seemed to care. But if your hopes, for your tomorrows. Are drowning in your sorrows. Know your heart will show you the way. Are you trying to find a beginning. Or something just to hold on to. Always know that love will find a way. Is it hard this life youre living. Does the world seem so unkind. Dont you worry love will find a way. (bridge) Some say weve lost, our way. Some say the world has gone astray. But if you know where youre going. Theres nothing you cant do. cause problems will come. And they will leave you. The world will try to deceive you. But the truth will always be in your soul.

This song connects to Vladek and Anjas situation because they went through so much pain and hardship. They were separated for a very long period of time, they didnt know if their spouse was still alive by the time the war ended. The songs talks about how if youre going through a really hard time you just need to remember that love will find a way. Anja and Vladek were able to find each other even after everything happened. Love was able to find a way; they

moved to America and, had another son, and lived very happily! Hitler wanted Jews and other to die for who they were, he didnt want them to have happiness, he wanted to suffer rather and die. However Hitler and his followers werent quite powerful enough to stop all Jewish people and others from living their lives and being happy! Vladek and Anja had enough power to find each other again, live their lives together and have a new beginning in America! The Americans and many other countries finally had the power to end World War II after so many unimaginable things took place! Love somehow has the power to overcome even the biggest obstacles and finds its way to those looking for it and who are in need of it! http://www.poemhunter.com/song/love-will-find-a-way-3/