https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad "MAUS" bk 2 Chapter 1-3 by Art Spiegelman. Blog by Noah Temme en-us 2019-04-11 06:58:38 UTC 2026-03-08 01:49:37 UTC hello@padlet.com https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/hfM9qBa05X7GGLxravjCep8BnNY=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-107758987-5c38ea2346e0fb00015a8847.jpg noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350665859 The chapter opens up with an interesting note. Artie is called while visiting Vermont and discovers that Vladek suffered what seems to be a severe heart attack. Turns out, Vladek was fine and didn't even have one in the first place. What did happen however is that Mala left Vladek and took his money with her, so now Artie is forced to meet with his father once more. Struggling with making sense of his book, His father continues his story of tribulation during the holocaust. Vladek goes into vivid detail about his experience in Auschwitz. The starvation, the brutality dealt by the guards, and the indiscriminate killing of man, woman, and child. It was here where Vladek got his identification tattoo on his arm, a means for the Nazi's keep track of their prisoners. This is where Vladek was broken, defeated, he hasn't felt a lack of hope like this since him and Anja were left on their own after everyone they knew and loved were taken away. He is kept safe however thanks to a Kapo at the camp, making sure Vladek isn't suffering as badly as the rest. Mandeblaum, Vladek's friend, was shot for no reason but a cruel joke the guards were playing. Vladek is skating on thin ice, and any wrong move could result in his death. The Chapter ends with Vladek and Artie playing bingo. ]]> 2019-04-11 07:33:00 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350665859 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350670369 Artie is conflicted. The last encounter he had with his father ended in a horrible way with Artie lashing out at Vladek for burning his mothers diary. Artie is unsure of his book and his relationship with his father. The love is still there however, and despite how intolerable Vladek can be, Artie continues to listen and learn from his old man.]]> 2019-04-11 07:52:28 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350670369 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350670877 Vladek has hit rock bottom. As if things couldn't get any worse, here he is the most infamous concentration camp, the very one he feared taken to. Through meeting a Kapo however, he is spared harsher treatments that normal prisoners would endure. Even with the added protection though, his spirit and will is utterly crushed. There is no way things could get worse for him. That is until Anja makes a return, and he is beaten for his attempts to see her.]]> 2019-04-11 07:54:43 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350670877 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350671540 The chapter opens up stating that Vladek died of a heart attack in 1982. More information is revealed to us with proud declarations from Artie about his accomplishments with the book and personal life being juxtaposed with grisly facts about the Holocaust and his family's tragic history. Artie has everything he wants and more, however he is extremely depressed. He feels he is lacking something, regret is constant in his thoughts. He begins to learn that the guilt from surviving Auschwitz hardened his father and left him with an unshakable pride and sadness. We cut to Vladek working as a tin man. Indiscriminate killing occurred for days on end. Vladek discover that Anja is in Birkenau. They would go to great lengths to see each other. Vladek is caught in the act however and as a result feels the full wrath of Auschwitz, being beaten and starved. Despite all of this, he was getting ever so closer to Anja. The chapter ends with Vladek describing in horrifying detail how the ovens and gas chambers worked.]]> 2019-04-11 07:57:45 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350671540 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675318 A sort of anti-hero who plays both sides enforcing strict control over the prisoners but at the same time helping Vladek out.]]> 2019-04-11 08:17:59 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675318 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675629 Anja is being held in Birkenau and is somehow keeping hope after discovering that Vladek is still alive.]]> 2019-04-11 08:19:09 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675629 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675770 The chapter begins with Artie and Vladek arguing about food, and Vladek explaining his inability to throw away good food comes from his experience in the camps. We then cut to Vladek working in the camps when news of the Russian advance makes it's way around. This sends everything into a frenzy, officials are leaving left and right, returning to Berlin and Vladek sees this as an opportunity. However, this opportunity did not last as the camp was evacuated. He is moved from Auschwitz to Dachau, where there was a red cross; seeing this eases Valdek's pain slightly. Vladek's efforts to reap the benefits of the camp are short lived when he suddenly contracts Typhus, a deadly disease that killed countless of prisoners in the camp. The chapter ends with Artie picking up a colored hitchhiker, to Vladek's dismay.]]> 2019-04-11 08:19:56 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350675770 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350679096 There is an overwhelming sense of hopelessness in Vladek in these chapters. Vladek keeps his level headed demeanor, but it simply isn't being rewarded. Every time a  problem ends another one begins, and each one is worse than the other. From book one you see how he became the man he did later in life, but in book two you fully understand how and why he changed. For better or worse is yet to be determined,

]]> 2019-04-11 08:36:18 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350679096 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350679798 This portion of the book takes place in Auschwitz, the most infamous concentration camp. Vladek is moved Dachau, a welcome change from Auschwitz, ]]> 2019-04-11 08:39:41 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350679798 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350680332 It's obviously a play on words, but the MAUS at the beginning symbolizes the inhumane treatment of the prisoners with most of them being exterminated like vermin.]]> 2019-04-11 08:42:11 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350680332 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350680577 1. False heart attack scare 
2. Artie is faced with the struggles of success 
3. Vladek receives help from a Kapo
4. One of Vladeks friends are shot dead in front of him 
5. Vladek discovers that Anja is being kept in Birkenau]]> 2019-04-11 08:43:32 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350680577 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350681280 Jealous to some degree. His father constantly put's him on a pedestal despite not living to see adulthood. Artie feels like he's constantly living in his brothers shadow and that his father will never fully appreciate him.]]> 2019-04-11 08:46:46 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350681280 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350681691 He shows him his identification tattoo and it's last with positive Hebrew symbolism.]]> 2019-04-11 08:48:35 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350681691 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682174 A rather lame looking individual, one whom could slip into obscurity and remain hidden from the guards. He is a close friend of Vladek who shares Vladek's philosophy that if they do things just right they will make it out. He didn't.]]> 2019-04-11 08:50:39 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682174 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682500 His optimism is shattered, where as before he was hopeful and always looking up, he is a broken man here. His quick thinking and cleverness has also been erased,]]> 2019-04-11 08:52:23 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682500 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682948 They take the names and add an animal twist to it to make it fit into the story, Mauschwitz in particular is symbolizing the eradication of the prisoners as if they were nothing but mice.]]> 2019-04-11 08:54:18 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350682948 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350683402 Artie depicts himself as a depressed, lost man. He has the fame and fortune he's been longing for yet feels empty. At this point Vladek is dead, and the guilt from profiting off his father's suffering eats away at Artie. He portrays himself as smaller than everyone in stature, literally being dwarfed by everyone he meets, symbolizing that he believes he is so unworthy of his father's love and the acceptance of the masses.]]> 2019-04-11 08:55:57 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350683402 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350684418 Vladek is thrown into a frenzy of gunfire and confusion. The camp is about to face a Russian assault so they are moved out of the camp. During the frenzy many people are killed, people being shot down for no reason other than crowd control. They're soon all taken to Dachau.]]> 2019-04-11 09:00:24 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350684418 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350685038 While talking about how it's hard to believe that Auschwitz happened in such a nice place, they are swatting mosquitos and other bugs that keep biting them. They're killing vermin in a way that's comparable to how the Nazi's did, right where they are standing.]]> 2019-04-11 09:03:06 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350685038 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350685732 1. The Russians begin their advance in the area
2. The prisoners are moved out of Auschwitz into Dachau
3. Dachau has a red cross, allowing the prisoners to recuperate.
4. Vladek contracts Typhus.
5. Vladek has a racist outburst toward a colored hitchhiker. ]]> 2019-04-11 09:06:31 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350685732 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350686777 Vladek has a bitter sweet feeling. He's glad that somebody is fighting back against there oppressors, but realizes that violence only yields more violence. He mustn't let himself stoop to that low of a level. ]]> 2019-04-11 09:12:16 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350686777 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350687237 Vladek ate the snow for nourishment, keeping him alive just long enough before they were taken away.]]> 2019-04-11 09:14:35 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350687237 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350687741 Vladek has a racist outburst against a colored hitchhiker. I think Spiegelman included this because it shows that prejudice will always be alive and well. As the Germans viewed the Jews as inferior, so did Vladek to the colored folk. I think it's a product of years of built up resentment reaching a boiling point. When you're exposed that sort of behavior, it begins to rub off on you.]]> 2019-04-11 09:16:51 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350687741 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350688729 It's unshakable. These horrific events traumatized him and have burned these memories into his soul.]]> 2019-04-11 09:20:44 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350688729 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350689053 To add sentimental value to the journey you read about. At the end of the story, you care about this man and the struggles he faced and your left with a reminder that this did indeed happen and that his story is just one of many.]]> 2019-04-11 09:21:54 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350689053 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350689808 The Star Of David is present on their gravestone as a reminder of who and what they were and the trials and tribulations that they faced.]]> 2019-04-11 09:24:30 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350689808 noahtemme https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350690648 This book draws some very interesting parallels from the film Schindlers List in it's attention to detail and authenticity to what actually transpired]]> 2019-04-11 09:27:34 UTC https://padlet.com/noahtemme/3oe3nyt2wnad/wish/350690648