Reading No. 5 "Maus" by Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman

Title: Maus

Author: Art Spiegelman

Date: 1991

Setting (time and place):  Since the novel has two sides, there are two main settings. One is in the "present" in Vladek's house were Artie is interviewing his father to know about his past, and the other is around Poland where Vladek live in the past.

Event (conflict, important information, touching passage, question): The main issues are the father-son relationship as well as the history about the holocaust and how the Jewish were chased by the German. It was during the World Warr II. 

Characters:

Vladek: He is the main character he seems to be very stubborn and stingy, but by knowing his background it is understandable that he is like that because of his past. He went to the war and then were kept as prisoner then he was taken to a concentration camp. when he was released, it was the beginning of the "dark days" for Jewish people so he had to scape and hide with his family.

Artie: He is Vladek's son. He is a writer; more specifically, a comic writer, but he wants to publish a book with his father’s story, so he is interviewing him and asking for every little detail. 

Mala: She is the new Vladek’s wife. She has a bad attitude and she is always complaining about living with Vladek and his stingy way of living. 

Anja: She was Vladek's wife when they were trying to survive in Poland.

There are many other characters with important roles in this story such as the ones that help Vladek to escape from different situations as well as Anja's family that were reducing its number little by little, but I decided to focus on the main characters who are the ones previously mentioned.

Memorable quote / favorite part: I really like the part in which Vladek was able to come to see his family again since most of them didn't have the opportunity to do so in the sory nor in real life. however, they were separated as the story continues which was sad.

How did it make me feel? / can I make any connection to my life?

I really loved this novel since it is completely different from what one expects by hearing that a novel had to be read. Having the pictures of the character makes the reading more interesting since it is easier to imagine the characters. I must admit that by looking at the pictures without reading anything I thought that the novel was totally different like something funny, but nope. It is always amazing to know about the history of the Holocaust and all the things that happened there. Every time I hear about the holocaust; specially by stories like this one, I start questioning myself if I would have survived to something like that because I know that not all of them did it.