MAUS I

THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

The story is about the Holocaust, WWII, and father-son relationships. In an interview, Spiegelman says that
he tried to portray the story of what it meant to understand his father’s story, and also how they tried to work
out their difficulties with each other. “I was trying to understand what he went through by making a comic
about it.” He didn’t want to remove himself from it, he never even considered it. Portray the difficulty of
transmitting memories.

Maus is a non-fiction book presented in a graphic novel style that pictures Spiegelman interviewing his father
about his experiences as a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor. It represents Jews as mice, Germans as cats
and Poles as Pigs. It has been published in twenty different languages. Spiegelman explained that, among the
reasons why he chose mice to represent Jews, it was the fact that “the Final Solution was based on
exterminating Jews, not murdering them”. The way Nazis treated the Jews was similar to how mice, and rats,
live. He called it Maus because it is the German word for “mouse”.

Maus, then, presents two different storylines:

1st storyline (interview) → 1978
2nd storyline (WWII) → 1930’ – 1944/1945

The form of the text:

Maus is a graphic novel. A graphic novel is a longer work or collection of works presented in a “comic” style.
Spiegelman defines it as an ambitious comic book.

Differences between a graphic novel and a comic:

GRAPHIC NOVEL COMIC
length Longer Shorter
ads No ads Comics usually have several pages of ads
Standalone works which don’t have a
type Collections
relation with others
age Older people Younger people (not necessarily)
It is a novel which has the format of a
format
comic

“Graphic novel” is a format, not a genre. They can be fiction, non-fiction, history, fantasy, or anything in
between. The characteristics of a graphic novel are: it stands alone; images tell most of the story; similar in
length to typical novels; use of dialogue bubbles, narration boxes and sound effects.

Context of production
Art Spiegelman is a renowned name in the field of comics, quite an unusual type of text to explore in a regular
English Language class. There is a clear advantage in the comic format: brevity. The use of small bits of
language and the relevance of the visual element to gain an overall meaning contribute to the possibility of
exploiting bits to, e.g. generate discussion or elicit many other issues (such as language problems, regional
characteristics, idiolect, etc.) And there’s the shock factor… the comic format seems not to be our first choice
for an issue such as the [20th century Jewish] Holocaust (it was really quite sensational when it appeared). It
looks uncomfortable, it was deemed inappropriate… but times change and, as Rita Felski points out, “We are
now immune to the shocking insofar shock itself has become routine; we inhabit a world of frenetic change
and frantic rhythms, immersed in a culture that is driven by an insatiable demand for novelty and sensation
(Felski 2008:107)”.
The Complete Maus actually took Art Spiegelman decades to produce. Its first appearance as a serialized strip
in Raw magazine is also a reminder of the 19th century “penny dreadful” so criticized though hugely popular.
There are two main parts to it, Volume I, i.e. Part I “My Father Bleeds History” (1986), in which we know
there’s even included “Prisoner on the Hell Planet,” the literally dark heartbreaking account on what it feels
to lose a loved one to suicide, which had originally been published back in 1973, well before Maus was to be
printed for the first time. And then, there’s Volume II, i.e. Part II, “And Here My Troubles Began” (1992), which
concentrates on the father-son relationship and the account of Vladek’s life during WWII and after it. The
book closes with dates signalling the time the artist took to complete his work (1978-1991).

Pulitzer Prize
Maus earned the renowned prize in 1992. The book was not competing in any category whatsoever. When
we notice a work by any person is awarded a distinction, the work seems to possess a certain “added value”
which people recognize when buying it. The Pulitzer calls for attention –it’s excellence they are looking for–
and until Maus, comics were hardly a genre that might have been thought worthy of praise by universities
and academia in general. Consequently, Spiegelman becomes a respected author for the consistent quality
of his work, the originality of the approach, and because of the difficult subject-matters his books deal with.

THE AUTHOR
Art Spiegelman is a Jewish American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate, who is most famous for his
graphic novel “Maus”. He was born on February 15, 1948, in Stockho9lm. He immigrated with his parents to
the USA in 1951 and grew up in New York.

He began cartooning in 1960, imitating the style of his favourite comic books, such as Mad. He was earning
money by the time he reached high school. In 1966, he began selling self-published underground comics on
street corners.

Intending to create a book-length work based on his father’s recollections of the Holocaust, Spiegelman
interviewed his father in 1978 and made a research visit in 1979 to Auschwitz. The book was titled “Maus: A
Survivor’s Tale” and was published in 1986. Between 1980 and 1991 he wrote the story included in both Maus
I and Maus II.

THE CONTEXT
World War II was a conflict between 1939 and 1945 that involved all the world’s major countries of that time.
It was one of the most destructive wars in history and millions of people were killed. It was fought between
the Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (Britain, France, USA, URSS, among others).

The rise of Nazi Germany and its aggression can be tracked back to World War I, after which Germany was
economically devastated (due to the reparation payments demanded in the Treaty of Versailles). For that
reason, resentment and desperation grew in Germany and radical political parties, such as the Nazis, gained
popularity.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler pressured Germany’s president into appointing him chancellor, a position that allowed
him to quickly consolidate his power. During the first years of his dictatorship, Hitler announced his intentions
of rebuilding Germany’s military forces, so he started to annex territories of neighbouring countries, such as
Austria and Czechoslovakia. When he attacked Poland in 1939, France and Britain aligned against Germany
and the war started.

Japan and Italy, also affected by the consequences of WWI and by the Great Depression, needed resources
and desired to expand their territories. They formed an alliance with Germany and entered the war. The USA,
disapproving of Japan’s actions, placed a trade embargo on Japan which restricted its ability to import
different resources. As a response, Japan attacked the USA naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941. This action
bought the USA into WWII.

The Holocaust.
Historical definition: “a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering. A great or complete destruction,
especially by fire.”

The Holocaust was the systemic mass slaughter of Jews in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. It was a
huge campaign of discrimination and murder carried out by the Nazis during WWII. They were antisemitic
and decided to kill all Jews in the areas they occupied, calling this action the Final Solution. Jews were forced
to live in ghettos, which were parts of towns that were sealed off without enough food or medical help.

Millions of people, including Jews but also black people, gays, and political prisoners, were taken to
concentration camps. There, people were forced to work extremely hard and that saved their lives
temporarily. Many workers died because of starvation and illness or were sent to gas chambers (the “ovens”)
to be killed. Those who couldn’t work were immediately killed by being shot or gassed. Around 6 million of
Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

THE STORY

"Prologue"
a. What is your first impression of Vladek Spiegelman? What does his remark about friends suggest about
his personality? How does it foreshadow revelations later in the book?
Set in 1958. At first, he appears to be a not-so-kind father. It seems that he doesn’t really care about his son
crying over his friends skating away from him. He says, “If you lock them together in a room with no food for
a week, then you could see what it is”. This quote first shocked me, even though I knew that the graphic novel
was going to deal with the topic of the holocaust. However, then we read about Vladek’s experiences and
how he was actually locked in a room with his family with no food for a long time (even more than a week).
For that reason, I believe that this reply of him could be interpreted as some comment that a survivor makes
(partly, because he knows what difficulty truly is).

In the prologue, he simply says that and asks Artie to hold better on the wood that he was sawing (he was
fixing something).

"The Sheik"
a. What has happened to Artie's mother?
She was a survivor of WWII, and she committed suicide. In this first chapter, we are told that she had to take
a lot of pills. Later on (chapter two) we learn that Anja suffered from severe depression after giving birth to
Richeu, so she was sent to a sanatorium in Czechoslovakia (they stayed there for about three months).

b. How does Vladek get along with Mala, his second wife? What kind of things do they argue about?
They don’t get along, but they probably don’t want to die alone. Mala is a survivor as well (she knew his
parents in Poland before the war). They argue mainly about money. In this first chapter, they also argue about
the fact that Mala gives Artie a wire hanger to hold his coat.

In chapter three: “Mala could let it sit like this for a week and never touch it, and she knows that with my
sickness it’s hard for me to do such things.”

c. How long has it been since Artie last visited his father? What do you think is responsible for their
separation?
Almost two years. They were not that close, but Anya’s suicide probably complicated things.
d. How does Vladek respond when Artie first asks him about his life in Poland? Why might he be reluctant
to talk about those years?
He’s reluctant: “There’s not much to talk about”. Pain: talking about it would bring memories back.

e. On page 12 we see a close-up of Vladek as he pedals his exercise bicycle. What is the meaning of the
numbers tattooed on his wrist? How does this single image manage to convey information that might
occupy paragraphs of text?
Identification numbers. Because of cultural knowledge, we as readers know what the numbers are. By
showing them in the drawing, the artist doesn’t need to explain straightforwardly that his father has been a
victim and survivor of the Holocaust and WWII.

f. Describe Vladek's relationship with Lucia Greenberg. How was he introduced to Anja Zylberberg? Why
do you think he chose her over Lucia?
They had a complicated relationship. She wanted him, but he didn’t want to be with her. A cousin introduced
Vladek to Anja; they start talking and eventually, he probably fell in love with her. He also points out that Anja
was part of a rich family, and Lucia was not. “I didn’t want to be closer to her, but she really wouldn’t let me
go.” They saw each other for about three or four years, she wanted them to get engaged. “His family was
nice, but had no money, even for a dowry.”

One of Vladek’s cousins introduced Anja and Vladek. His cousin describes Anya as “incredibly clever, from a
rich family and a very good girl”. They met and immediately bonded; he mentions that when he arrived home
(back to Czestochowa) she called him and they started to talk every day, they also started to send letters. He
visited her a couple of times. He leaves Lucia because he wanted to get engaged to Anja.

"The Honeymoon"
a. What is Vladek doing when Artie comes to visit him? How does his health figure elsewhere in the book?
He’s counting pills. He has diabetes and has had two heart attacks. He has to take vitamins. He says that, with
his condition, he has to fight to save himself. He was malnourished in order to avoid the war, because of his
father. At the end of chapter 2, he mentions that sometimes he gets a haemorrhaging in his left eye. He also
had glaucoma that had to be taken out of him, so now he doesn’t see very well. He also has a cataract inside
his good eye. The previous year his eye started bleeding, they had to operate on him and now it’s a glass eye.

Chapter 5: Artie and Vladek are walking, when Vladek has a problem with his heart and has to take a Nitrostat
pill.

b. How does Vladek become wealthy?

Thanks to Anja’s father (textile factory). He was skilful – savings. Vladek had saved enough from his sales trips
to start a textile shop, but Anja’s father tells him he would give him the money to start a textile factory. When
they come back from Czechoslovakia, Anja’s father informed them that the factory had been robbed. The
man helped them to establish themselves again, and in a couple of months, they were well-off again.

c. What does Vladek see while traveling through Czechoslovakia?

Nazi expansion (signs, violence, flag, pogrom). It was the beginning of 1938, before the war, and they saw a
nazi flag manging high in the centre of town. He mentions that it was the first time he saw a swastika.
Someone mentions that there was a pogrom going on in Germany that day.

d. Why does the artist place a swastika in the background of the panels that depict the plight of Jews in
Hitler's Germany (p. 33)? Why, on page 125, is the road that Vladek and Anja travel on their way back to
Sosnowiec also shaped like a swastika? What other symbolic devices does the author use in this book?
Power and control of the Nazis. They are everywhere, no place to hide. The use of animals is symbolic.
August 1939 → They receive a letter from the government, saying Vladek was in the Polish reserves, so he
had to go to war right away.

"Prisoner of War"
a. When Artie refused to finish his food as a child, what did Vladek do? How does he characterize Anja's
leniency with their son?
Force him to eat. Scared to lose him (balance – he also has been through the experience of starving, and he
wanted his son to eat). “When I was little, if I didn’t eat everything mom served, pop and I would argue until
I ran to my room crying. Mom would offer to cook something I liked better, but Pop just wanted to leave the
leftover food around until I ate it. Sometimes he’d even save it to serve again and again until I’d eat it or
starve”. “Mom would eventually feed me something I liked and throw away the old food while you weren’t
looking” - “Anja was too easy with you always”.

b. Why was Vladek's father so reluctant to let him serve in the Polish army? What means did he use to keep
him out?
His father, WWI (he had to serve the Russian army and they took him for 25 to Siberia, he pulled out 14 of his
teeth to escape). He put his sons on a starvation diet so when they went for the army examination, they didn’t
take them. Starve him (he ate only salted herring and no water to make him lose weight) and make him
unhealthy. A few days before the exam, he didn’t let him sleep nor eat (though the following year Vladek
didn’t follow what his father asked and went to the army).

c. What is the meaning of the beard and skullcap that Vladek's father is shown wearing in the panels on
page 46? What happens to his beard later on?
Jewish symbols (religion). Later on, they cut it off (Nazis). His father was very religious, so he always had a big
beard. In September, the German soldiers grabbed many Jews in the street and made them sing prayers while
laughing at them and beating them; then, before letting them go, they cut off their beards.

d. How does Vladek feel after shooting the German soldier?

“I had to” / “At least I did something” → there was a soldier hidden in a tree, and Vladek shot even when the
soldier held up a hand to surrender because, otherwise, the soldier could have shot him.

e. How did the Germans treat Vladek and other Jewish prisoners after transporting them to the Reich? How
was this different from their treatment of Polish P.O.W.s?
They made the Jews stand separately and asked them to put down all of their valuables. Then, they were
overworked, cold and did not have enough food. The Polish were treated better (they got heated cabins, for
example, while the Jews had to sleep in tents out in the cold). The Jews were given only summer uniforms
and a thin blanket even though it was freezing. The other prisoners got two meals a day, the Jews only a crust
of bread and a little soup. Many got frostbite wounds. From time to time, they were allowed to write letters.

One day a sign appeared asking for volunteers to do some work, promising housing, and food. The Jews
thought it was a trap and didn’t want to go, but Vladek disagreed “I won’t die here. I want to be treated like
a human being”. Then, they were sent to a house with a stove and beds, but they had to work extremely hard
– “We had to move mountains, the hills were maybe 3 o 4 yards high. We had to make it level.” Some went
back to the tents.

f. What is the significance of Vladek's dream about his grandfather? What recurring meaning does "Parshas
Truma" have in his life?
Good things happened on Parshas Truma. He got married to Anya on the week of Parshas Truma, and Artie
was born on that week as well (after the war – 1948). He had a dream, a voice talking to him. It was his
grandfather telling him not to worry, that he would be free on the day of Parshas Truma.
Parshas Truma → Each week, on Saturday, they read a section from the Torah (that is called a Parsha). One
week each year it is Parshas Truma. At that time, Parshas Truma was going to be almost three months after
Vladek’s dream. One day, on Parshas Truma, they were released.

g. How does Vladek arrange to be reunited with his wife and son? What visual device does Spiegelman use
to show him disguising himself as a Polish Gentile?
He uses a pig mask (to appear as Polish) and manages to go back home. Visual device → pig mask.

They are released but they are not sent to their homes. The train went past Vladek’s part of Poland. He was
unloaded in Lublin. They weren’t actually released, they were going to kill them. Vladek was released because
he had a relative there. He stayed there a few days, recuperating. One day, he got onto the train without
letting a Pole know that he was a Jew (visual element – pig mask, he hides his identity and pretends to get
home). The Poles didn’t like the Germans, so he helped Vladek come back to his side of Poland. He first visits
his parents and then goes back to Anja.

"The Noose Tightens"

a. Describe the activities depicted in the family dinner scene on pages 74-76. What do they tell you about
the Zylberbergs?
Vladek himself describes that everything was still “very luxurious”. In those pages, we see that the family
ate all together at a big table, dressed nicely (suits and dresses). They had big dishes, and it seems that
there is a lot of food. However, Vladek’s father-in-law explains that they can’t get the same amount of food
that they used to. They get coupons and some margarine, sugar, and jam, but nothing else. They also have
the black market, but it’s dangerous because they can be taken away. Then, the older man says that all
Jewish businesses had been taken over by the Germans with some excuse, so now they can make any
money out of Vladek’s textile factory.

b. Although Jews were allowed only limited rations under the Nazi occupation, Vladek manages to
circumvent these restrictions for a while. What methods does he use to support himself and his family?
Vladek makes money from secret businesses that weren’t really legal. One old customer of his gave him a
coupon saying he worked for him that was useful to use as an excuse to be there. He went to the shops that
owed him money and asked those who couldn’t pay to give him some materials and elements in exchange.
He manages to make some money through these types of activities.

Then 1941 → they are relocated into a way smaller place which wasn’t yet a real ghetto.

c. During the brutal mass arrest depicted on page 80, Vladek is framed by a panel shaped like a Jewish star.
How does this device express his situation at that moment?
1941, Vladek was going to see someone when he saw that they were arresting Jews even if they had papers.
On page 80, Vladek is framed by a panel shaped like a Jewish star. I think that represents how he had no place
to escape to, no way to hide. His religion was the reason why they were taking them, not doing some illegal
activity or something similar to that. It was being Jew that infuriated the Nazis and, no matter what Vladek
did, they were going to take him if they wanted to because he was a Jew. Ha manages to escape though,
because a friend of his takes him up to his apartment and they hide there together.

d. What happened to little Richieu? When Vladek begins telling this story on page 81, the first three rows
of panels are set in the past, while the bottom three panels return us to the present and show the old
Vladek pedalling his stationary bicycle. Why do you think Spiegelman chooses to conclude this anecdote in
this manner?
Richieu didn’t survive the war. Vladek explains that the friend that helped him hide had told him that he and
his wife were going to give their son to one of their Polish friends to hide him until the situation got better.
When Vladek mentioned this to his family, they were completely against the idea. Anja said she was not
willing to give her baby up. I believe that Spiegelman decided to conclude the anecdote that way because he
wanted to somehow show Vladek’s expressions while telling the story. The bottom three panels show Vladek
pedalling, but as he says that Richieu didn’t remain alive after the war and that they had to hide him anyways,
he stops pedalling. He is probably remembering the situation and how hard it was. At the same time, it is a
way of coming back to the present of the graphic novel.

e. What happened to Vladek's father? What does the scene on pages 90-91 suggest about the ways in which
some Jews died and others survived?
One day, they were told that they had to register at the Dienst stadium for the matter of inspecting their
documents and stamping them, in order to protect them as citizens of the region. Some of them thought it
was a trap and didn’t want to go. Vladek’s father asks him if he should or not go to the stadium, and finally,
he decided to go. In the stadium, the nazis sent people either to the right or left (those without work cards,
old people and families with lots of kids were sent to the left – they didn’t get any stamps). Vladek and Anja
went to a tale where Vladek’s cousin was, and they got their passports stamped and were sent to the right.
Vladek’s father did the same and was also sent to the right, but Vladek’s sister Fela had four children and was
sent to the right. For that reason, his father sneaked to the other side so as to not leave her alone. Those sent
to the left never came home.

The scene suggests that some Jews managed to survive because of having work cards and smaller families,
but also because they helped the Nazis thinking that they would survive in that way. In addition, those who
had some family working in the committee expecting or helping the Nazis also had a higher chance of survival.
Old and weak people were never going to make it, sadly.

"Mouse Holes"
a. This chapter and the one that follows both have the word "mouse" in their titles. And, in fact, in the
concluding sections of this book Spiegelman's mice seem to become more "mouse-like." How does the
author accomplish this? What reason might he have for doing so?
During the final chapters of Maus I, the characters become more “mouse-like” in the sense that they have to
live like actual mice. They have to hide and live in really small places with a ton of people, as well as eat
whatever they find to survive. In addition, Spiegelman starts describing the worst period for the Jews in which
they were quite literally exterminated. The Nazis, represented as cats in this graphic novel, hunted the Jews
and murdered them as if they were some kind of plague; for that reason, the Jews had to hide and run away
in whichever way they found.

b. Why does Artie claim that he became an artist?

He says that one of the reasons why he became an artist was the fact that his father thought it was impractical
and a waste of time, so he wouldn’t have to compete against him in that area. He explains that, as a kid, he
had always hated helping his father around the house, and that Vladek loved showing off how handy he was
and telling Artie that he did everything wrong.

c. How does the comic strip "Prisoner on the Hell Planet" depict Artie and his family? How did you feel on
learning that Artie has been hospitalized for a nervous breakdown? Why do you think he has chosen to
draw himself dressed in a prison uniform? What is the effect of seeing these mice suddenly represented as
human beings?
The comic strip represents them as an unhappy family, I believe. It explains some situations that show how
depressed and bad they were: Artie going to a mental hospital, Anja’s suicide and Vladek’s reaction to it.
Artie’s parents probably had a difficult time as war survivors, but Anja definitely had something else, some
fear that she kept to herself, and eventually she wasn’t able to keep going so she committed suicide.
Anja killed herself by cutting her wrists and consuming an entire bottle of pills. Artie says that the last time
he saw her was late at night when she went into his room and asked him if he still loved her. Artie replies
quickly with resentment, mad at her because she was still too attached. For that reason, I believe, he feels
guilty for what happened after, a prisoner of his mind and his fears (I think that’s why he draws himself in a
prisoner uniform).

d. Why did Anja finally consent to send Richieu away? Was his death "better" than the fate of the children
depicted on page 108?
One of Anja’s relatives goes to their place after they are sent to a ghetto (Srodula). The man was the head of
a Jewish council in another ghetto and tells Anja and Vladek how terrible and horrible stories were going
around about Auschwitz. He offers to take Richieu with them, and both Anja and Vladek agree with it probably
because things were much worse at that moment.After a few months, the Germans decided to finish out that
ghetto. They sent killed Persis and the Jewish council and ordered everyone to go to the square from where
they were going to send them to Auschwitz. Tosha (Anja’s sister I believe) didn’t want to die in a gas chamber
and was not going to let the children die in there either, so she poisoned herself and the kids as well.

On page 108, Vladek describes a situation that happened in Srodula sometime before Richieu’s death: the
Germans took most of the kids in the ghetto to Auschwitz and killed those who screamed because they
wouldn’t want to go. If we compare Richieu’s death to the one that those kids suffered, I think we could say
that his death was somehow better. He died poisoned, maybe even without much pain. At least, it wasn’t as
physically painful as the fate of the children in Srodula.

e. Describe the strategies that Vladek used to conceal Anja and himself during the liquidation of the ghetto.
How did the Germans flush them from hiding?
When the Germans started to grab out anybody in Srodula, Vladek arranged a hiding spot in their cellar. They
didn’t have enough food, and they had to hide in terrible hygienic conditions. When they were put into a
different house, they made another bunker this time on the roof. The Nazis were liquidating the ghetto, so
they could only sneak out for food.

One day, a stranger goes to their bunker saying that he had no idea that people were hiding in the house and
that he was just looking for some food for his family. They took pity on him and let him go with some food,
trusting him, but that same afternoon the Gestapo went to their house and found them. They took them to
a building with a lot of other people and took them in groups to Auschwitz. Vladek, one day, saw one of his
cousins and asked him for help to escape (offering jewels and valuables). Haskel helped them but refused to
help Anja’s parents because they were too old (even though he did take their jewels). Anja’s parents died in
Auschwitz.

f. What eventually happens to the "mouse" who informed on the Spiegelmans? What becomes of Haskel,
who refused to save Vladek's in-laws even though he accepted their jewels?
The guy that informed on the family was shot, and it was Vladek the one that had to bury him (Haskel had
arranged he would be killed). Haskel, on the other hand, was still alive in the present of the story, with a Polish
woman (in Poland) that helped him hide.

g. What does the incident on pages 118 and 119 tell us about relations between Jews and Germans? Does
the knowledge that some Nazis fraternized with their victims make their crimes more or less horrible?
Page 118 → Vladek is stopped by a Nazi soldier, who demands him to give him his papers and states that he
was going to kill him. When he sees that he is a Spiegelman, he lets him go telling him to give Haskel his
regards.
Page 119 → Vladek’s cousins tell him that the Nazi that stopped him was called “The shooter” and that he
killed Jews just “for fun”. We find out that both of them had some sort of “benefits” because they were part
of the Jewish police and fraternized with the Nazis.

h. How did Vladek care for Anja after the destruction of the Srodula ghetto? Contrast his behaviour toward
his first wife, during the worst years of the war, with the way he now treats Mala.
1943 → The vans took the Jews to Auschwitz. Vladek, his family and some others got to hide in a bunker that
one of them made. There were around 16 to 20 people hiding in the small place, and they got no food, so
they were starving. They had to live in incredibly poor conditions. When Anja’s nephew decided he didn’t
want to keep on hiding, Anja didn’t take it well and begs Vladek to let her die as well (“she went hysterical”).
Vladek tells her that dying was the “easy” way out and that they had to struggle to survive together because
they needed each other. Also, when they had to sneak for food Vladek would always help Anja first.

Page 125 → The nazis everywhere, drawing of Vladek and Anja walking and trying to find someplace to hide
in. They walk on a path shaped like a swastika.

"Mouse Trap"
a. What does Vladek mean when he says that reading Artie's comic makes him "interested" in his own
story (p. 133)? Is this statement just a product of broken English, or does it reveal some deeper truth
about what happens when we record our personal histories?
I believe that this statement has to do with the fact that when we record our histories, or when we have
someone else’s point of view of it, we can see and understand something new that maybe we hadn’t realised
before, or even heal some things.

b. On page 136 Vladek says that he was able to pass for a member of the Gestapo but that Anja's
appearance was more Jewish. What visual device does Spiegelman use to show the difference between
them?
1944 → they sneaked towards Sosnowiec. They are trying to find a place to hide, and Vladek says that it was
easier for him to get mixed up with the rest. Vladek was wearing a coat and boots, so he looked like a Gestapo.
However, he says that Anys’s appearance was more Jewish.

Visual elements → to hide, Spiegelman portrays the characters as wearing pig masks. To make the difference
between him and Anya, Spiegelman draws a very long tail in Anja’s body (showing that, as Vladek said, her
appearance was “more Jewish”).

c. Given the fact that the Spiegelman’s are "mice," what is the significance of the panels on page 147, in
which Vladek and Anja's hiding place turns out to be infested with rats? Why might the author have
portrayed this incident?
On the one hand, the incident shows the terrible conditions in which the Spiegelman’s had to live (and
survive). On the other hand, I believe the author decided to portray this incident to somehow make the reader
remember that they were people living in those awful conditions; if we see the drawings, the rat is drawn as
the actual animal, not like the characters who are mice with human characteristics. Also, it might have some
other significance: the Jews were portrayed as mice, much smaller and weaker animals than actual rats.

d. On page 149 Vladek is almost betrayed by a group of schoolchildren. What stories did Poles tell their
children about Jews? How do you think such stories—and perhaps similar stories told by German parents—
helped pave the way for the Final Solution?
“Be careful with them, they will catch you and eat you”. Such stories and perpetuating them probably greatly
affected people being repulsed by the Jews, leading them to somehow support the Final Solution. If you are
constantly told terrible stories about a group of people, you might end up believing them and being scared
of that group of people (especially when you are a kid and you have to believe everything that your parents
tell you).

e. Why does Vladek want to flee to Hungary? How are he and Anja eventually captured? What is the
significance of the letter from Mandelbaum's nephew (p. 154)?
Vladek and Anja were staying in a woman’s house, Motonowa. They hide there for quite some time, and they
could eat and sleep in better conditions than before. However, Vladek didn’t feel safe there because there
were many ways in which someone could find them (for example, Motonowa’s husband arriving home
unexpectantly). In addition, at that point of the war Hungary was better for the Jews (they were able to live
in better conditions compared to the Jews in Poland).

He arranges a way to go to Hungary. He talks with some smugglers, who tell him the plan. He agreed with
Mandelbaum’s nephew that the latter would go first and send a letter; if the letter arrived, Vladek and the
other man would go as well. Anja was reluctant to leave Motonowa’s house, considering the plan too risky
and dangerous. A few days after, the letter arrives: that is what pushes Anja and Vladek to take the risk and
try to go to Hungary, which is when they are captured.

Two days later, Vladek and Anja board a train, along with Mandelbaum, his wife, and the smugglers. They are
barely on the train for an hour – just passing by Bielsko, where Vladek once had his textile factory – when the
Gestapo board the train and arrest them. The smugglers have double-crossed them and delivered them into
the hands of the Nazis. The Nazis put them in prison, where they got very little to eat and had nothing to do.
Days later, a truck came and took them to the concentration camp Auschwitz. Here Anja and Vladek got
separated.

f. Why does Artie call his father a murderer? Is he justified? Who else has he called a murderer, and why?
During one of Artie’s visits, his father tells him that Anja had written some diaries telling all her story. Artie
insists on finding them, thinking they probably contained very valuable information about his mother. In the
last chapter of Maus I, Vladek tells his son that he had destroyed the diaries and some other of Anja’s things
one day when he was having a very bad day. it was after Anja’s death, and Vladek burned them because the
papers contained too many memories he probably wasn’t prepared to recall. He says that the diaries said, “I
wish my son, when he grows up, he will be interested by them”. It is then that Artie calls his father a murderer,
probably because by burning the diaries he wasn’t only destroying some paper, he was destroying the piece
of Anja that was still left for them. In his comic strip “Prisoner of Hell Planet”, Artie had also called his mother
a murderer: Anja committed suicide after Artie had been quite bad to her, not even caring about her
(apparently); Artie felt guilty for that, I think, so by killing herself Anja had, in Artie’s perspective, killed him
as well (he was always going to be a prisoner of his fears and of his guilt, a part of him was now “broken” and
Anja had been, somehow, the one to destroy it).