Sunday, April 14, 2013
My Father Bleeds History
Based on what we have read in Maus so far (book I), do you think Vladek is generally happy that Art is writing about him? What evidence formed your opinion? If you think he does not particularly like the fact Art is writing about him, what does that say about their relationship?
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Well on page 14, Vladek says "no one wants anyway to hear such stories" shwoing that he thinks his story is irrelevant and to me shows that he doens't care much for it, thinking that his story is boring. So in the beginning Vladek isn't happy or unhappy that Art wants to hear his stories. I do think that Vladek is happy that Art keeps coming by. I think he gets lonely with just Mala around.
ReplyDeleteI think that at the beginning Vladek doesn't see why Art wants to write about him. But as the story progresses he is glad Art comes back and wants to hear more. By the end of book one he says that even him (Vladek) who doesn't enjoy reading such comics would be interested in reading his story. Although Vladek does not completely approve Art's choice of becoming an artist, he is helping him with the writing of his book which can show that he supports his son even when he does something he disapproves.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Sebastian. I think as the story progresses his father becomes more and more interested in his story. He actually enjoys telling it. Vladek also seems to think extremely highly of Art and would do anything to make him happy (especially with Mala around). I think they have a strong relationship; however, I think he likes Art more than Art likes him. This is apparent when Art calls him "murderer" at the end of Book 1 for destroying his memories with his mother. In addition, Vladek needs the house and atmoshpere to be 100% perfect for whenever Art is around.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sebastian, too. Vladek had a hard time when Anja died. He burned her dairies because it was too painful to think of the days during WWII. But telling Artie his past kind of relieved him form the pain. Sometimes speaking out the problems, rather than repression, actually could be a good psychological treatment. Vladek seemed to be happy sharing his story with Artie.
ReplyDeleteNow that we have read a little bit further in Maus, I think that at certain parts of the story, Vladek is happy to share his stories with his son. However, I also feel that at other times, Artie is only hurting his father because he is constantly reminding his father of his horrific past. Throughout the story, all Artie seems to care about is retrieving information from his father about the Holocaust and that kind of puts Vladek in a bad position because he is nearly forced to, like I said, try to remember something he desperately wants to forget. On page 258, Artie and his father are talking in the car and Artie said, "well did you save any of his letters?" His father replied saying, "of course i saved. But all this i threw away together with Anja's notebooks. All such things of the war, I tried to put out from my mind once for all... until you rebuild me all this from your questions." This stuck out to me because Vledek, for the first time, told Artie that some of the stuff he has to rethink hurts him. So, overall, I think that for the most part, rethinking the past is defiantly hard for Vledek and he probably does not always enjoy sharing his past with his son.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicki, and that passage really struck me too. To go along with this, it also seems like Art only wants to be around his dad for his stories while Vladek wants them to actually have a good relationship. On page 183 Vladek wants to go on a walk and Art says, "sigh okay...I'll get my tape recorder, so today isn't a total loss." All he is interested in is the stories. Also, while on that walk Vladek just wants to talk but Art wont listen to anything that's not Auschwitz (pg 185). I guess Art writing the story is a way for them to have some relationship, even if not a great one. Before it seems like they never saw each other so something is better than nothing. In this sense, I think that Vladek is happy to be telling Art his stories because it allows them to be together. Also, on pg 184, in regards to Art's question on Auschwitz he says, "of course, darling, to me you can ask anything!" which seems to show that Art doesn't mind retelling such a terrifying part of his past.
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