Maus
Pages
129- 159
Question
1: Why do you think Vladek and Mala got married if they are always
fighting?
I
think Mala only married Vladek because of his money. Since Vladek doesn't like
to spend money, they are always arguing about it. In the book, Mala said,
“He only gives me $50 a month. When I need a pair of stockings I have to use my
own savings!” Mala also said, “I causes him (him meaning Vladek) physical pain
to part with even a nickel. Also, I think Vladek married Mala because he was
really depressed after Anja died, and he needed someone to make him forget
about Anja. In the book, Vladek said, “After Anja died I had to make an order
with everything. These papers had too many memories, so I burned them.”
Source
Source
Question
2: Why do you think the smuggler called the Gestapo?
I think the smugglers
did this because Vladek and Anja are Jews. I think the smugglers and Motonowa
pretended to be nice. I think the smugglers and Motonowa did this for money or
something valuable. I think the whole think was a trick. Anja did say, “No! No!
No! It’s some kind of trick!” I agree with her. I think Motonowa acted nice by
selling Vladek food without coupons, letting him and Anja into her house, and
bringing people that weren't really smugglers to trick Vladek and Anja. To
trick them into thinking that they could escape only to bring them into a trap.
Also, the chapter was called Mouse Trap.
Question
3: Why do you think Artie go so mad because Vladek got rid of Anja’s diaries?
I really don’t know
why Artie go so mad over the diaries. Yes they could have helped him write the
story, and I think he could have been a little mad. But he didn’t have to yell
in his own father’s face. Artie didn’t have to call Vladek a murderer because,
Vladek didn’t actually kill anyone. As I said before, yes they could have help
him with his story, but Vladek just told that story. I don’t think the diaries
are that important either.
I chose to answer question 1: Why do you think Vladek and Mala got married if they are always fighting?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that they married each other because they both probably felt lonely and needed someone to help one another. However, they didn't get along after because Mala kept fighting with Vladek about money and how ''little'' she earns each month. I agree with the fact that they married each other because Vladek was feeling extreme sorrow after Anja had died. Even as you stated that he burned all of Anja's papers, plus diaries because he was so depressed. I think that marrying is no joke and that if a couple doesn't get along very well, then why did they marry each other in the first place? In the book, I don't recall any scenes where Mala actually helps Vladek do something, except for maybe cooking food, which doesn't take TOO much work. This is why, in the real world, there are many divorces that happen and people try to choose someone to stay with only if they truly love them. The thought I have about this is that many people are not making wise decisions, even if they have the power to choose what they want to do in life. Decisions are also something that can fully impact a person's life. Now I know this may sound like everyone knows that decisions are important, but because of the impact it may affect, it is something really vital. In the story, Vladek went through a variety of tough decisions during the Holocaust. After that, I think that he felt like choosing was something that he didn't want to do, so maybe Mala chose for him. In this case, Mala most likely made the decision of marrying Vladek for the ''money'' and the ''companionship''.
Simone,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your post! You wrote way more this time and it is very good. I would like to start off with the fact that I completely agree with question #1. I was thinking about this question once I got to the ending of the book and saw them arguing again. Like Vladek him self says is, she only married him for money. Additionaly, I agree he only married her to forget Anja. He always told us all those memories and we saw Anja and him having great memories together, and that's the reason he burned her books and diaries. He felt so lonely and depressed he need someone else. Know, when he did say he burned the books to Artie, he became a real beast! He started yelling bad things to his own father, and all because he wanted to write a book about his life. I think, Artie should have been a little nicer about the situation and understand. Not only because his father was the one to go through everything, the pain, the torture, the horrible feelings, not Artie. I think he didn't have the right to call him a murderer, and specially act like it was all okay and just leave saying murderer...
Dear Simone,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the first paragraph Mala always wanted his money because he is really rich and you could survive war with money and thats what she thought. She should be grateful for Vladek. He already gives her food and he looks like a good man and he is really protective with Artie. For you second question I think the smugglers were really tricky and fake when they tried to protect him. I think that Vladek knew that they were trying to trick them,but it was the best option for them. I disagree with you in the last one because the diaries were really important for Artie to write the book and it was full of facts. The diaries was another perspective of someone who almost survived the war so this would be really.
I really liked your post. It had some really good questions that made me think about them a lot. But the question that I most liked and the one that most caught my attention was the one that said, Why do you think Artie go so mad because Vladek got rid of Anja’s diaries? Well I think that he got mad at Vladek because maybe he wanted to read Anjas diary to write the book he wanted to write since the beginning of the book, because two heads are better than one.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job on your post! I would like to zoom in on question #3(Question 3: Why do you think Artie go so mad because Vladek got rid of Anja’s diaries?) To answer this question I would have said that Artie got mad, not only because it could have been used for his book but also because he felt like he lost a part of his mother. He thought that those diaries were the only thing that was left of her. Thats why he called his father a murder, because he killed what was left of his mother. But I do agree with you that he really didn't need to yell at his father but i'm guessing that at that point he as probably fed up with him so he just let it out. Overall you answered the questions very thoughtfully good job.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with you on all your questions. For the first one, I agreed also that Mala only married Vladek for his money. But I don't think she knew that he wouldn't give her that much. Also, I agree that the only reason Vladek married Mala was so that he could forget about Anja. For the second question, I agree they were just trying to be nice, so in the end they could get the jews. It was just all a trap! And last for the last question, I agree that Art over reacted about the diaries. They could have made for a better story, but if they are gone they are gone... Overall, nice post Simone!
ReplyDeleteI choose to answer your first question, Why do you think Vladek and Mala got married if they are always fighting?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion having you loose a wife is a very sad and deep experience in which many of the times Vladek could had became a very depressed man. When he got up to his feet and decided to move on with life I think he met Mala. Initially, I think they might have been very lonely and decided to engage so that both of them won't feel as sorrow as they would if they were lonely. Although, they have a very shifty relationship I do not think Mala married Vladek for his money, the war toke most of his money; it shut down his company and blocked him to work which led him to gather for a long amount of time little money to be able to live. Later on, when war ended he did not had the same opoturtunites which led him to have a smaller income of money. In addition, Mala works like maid because she wants to , she does the work in the behalf of her own will and in the end gets paid, so she should be thankful. In my opinion Vladek is a very conservative person that is willing to live a life with a very little small amount of money since life demanded him to in a certain point live with very little.
Thanks,
Gui
Simone,
ReplyDeleteI really like your post. I agree with what you said about why Mala and Vladek got married. If they actually wanted to get married for each other, they wouldn't be arguing all the time and Mala wouldn't say things such as complain about only getting $50 a month. I agree that Mala only married him for his money. While reading the book, I also noticed parts such as, ''He only gives me $50 a month. When I need a pair of stockings I have to use my own savings!'' which made me realize that by marrying Vladek, Mala was interested in his money. I hadn't realized that Vladek married her to forget Anja, but now I agree with what you said. The book did say that he wanted to forget her and move on, so Mala could have been his distraction from Anja's death.
I really liked your post. I am going to answer question number one. I agree with you that Mala probably married him, because she knew he had a lot of money. Also, I think that Arties dad only married her so that he would`t feel lonely, also, I think that Artie's dad, also married her because in the beginning she probably look like Anja and was similar to Anja, but now he know that is not true. I really liked your post, it made me think better about the book,
ReplyDeleteSimone,
ReplyDeleteYour post is really interesting and I completely agree with you on Question #1. You can see that Mala and Vladek have totally different perspectives on 'money' and that they do not fit together as a married couple. By the quote, “He only gives me $50 a month. When I need a pair of stockings I have to use my own savings!” It looks like he treats Mala like a child, giving Mala her monthly money. I do agree and I also think that Vladek only married her because he was depressed after Anja died, and needed someone as a 'helping hand'.
I think that Mala got engaged to Vladek because he was rich, I don't think that they really love each other because if they did they would not argue so much.
ReplyDeleteI think the smuggler called the gestapo because he wasn't a smuggler at all, I think he was some sort of spy that was helping the germans to find other jews that where trying to escape or hiding in bunkers.
I think Artie got so mad with his father because he was trying to know the truth about his parents, and since his mother wasn't alive, the only way of him seeing her side of the story was to read the diary. The fact that his dad had burned the diaries for no reason was like the last drop because his dad had already done things that got him mad.