In the beginning of the story, the book suggests that Vladek is a bitter man. For example, the prologue describes Artie skating with his friends and breaking his roller blade and falling, but his friends leave him instead of helping him. Soon after, he approaches his father about the incident, seeking comfort and hoping to get his roller blade fixed (Spiegelman 5 – 6). This generic experience has played out in one form or another for plenty of children across the world. Most parents, when confronted with this situation, would try to comfort their injured child. Vladek, however, immediately compares the situation to the Holocaust. For example, Vladek says, “If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week… / …then you could see what it is, friends!…” as he refers to an experience he possibly went through during the Holocaust (6, ellipses in original). Vladek compares almost every situation to the Holocaust, engraving the events in his son’s mind. The scene illustrates the fact that the events of the Holocaust are never far from Vladek’s own thoughts. Not only does this put some strain on Valdek’s relationship with his son, but this also gives the impression that Vladek uses the Holocaust as an excuse for his behavior, which influences his relationship with his son enormously. Furthermore, the opening prologue is the only part of Maus I that shows Spiegelman during his adolescence, and from this short scene, one can begin to see exactly why it is that the Holocaust plays such a major role in his psyche. This, in turn, causes Spiegelman to become detached from his father.
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Soon after the roller skate scene, the reader ascertains Spiegelman’s detachment from his father. This is conveyed when the narrator says, “I went out to see my Father in Rego Park. I hadn’t seen him in a long time- we weren’t that close” (11). Unequivocally, Spiegelman is narrating to his audience that his father and he were not very close and they have not seen each other in a long time. Not only is Spiegelman detached from his father, but he also has very little respect for him.
Spiegelman has very little to no regard for the wellbeing of his father. For example, Spiegelman explains to his reader that Vladek has “aged a lot since” he last saw him, and that his “mother’s suicide and his two heart attacks” have taken its toll upon his father (11). Despite well knowingly Vladek is in poor health, Spiegelman continues to smoke in front of his father throughout the book. This is shown in the many vivid pictures in the story. Almost every present-day picture with Spiegelman in it shows him smoking. This goes to show the level of respect Spiegelman has for his father. One, however, may argue that during the time-period, many people were not aware of how bad smoking is. This, however, is false. By the time Spiegelman was transcribing Vladek’s stories into his book, campaigning against smoking in the United States had been in existence since the 1950s. For example, there was the publication of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report, Smoking and Health, which stated smoking increases the mortality rate of a person by as much as seventy percent (Nathanson 73). Even when Vladek asks Artie to stop smoking around him by saying, “Coff! Please, Artie, stop with the smoking. It makes me short with breath!,” as he exercises on a stationary bicycle for the health of his heart, Artie simply responds “I think it’s all your pedaling!,” knowing quite well that is not true (84). In spite of Spiegelman’s poor respect, Vladek is trying to be a better father to his son.
Vladek is constantly reaching out and trying to spend more time with Artie. For example, Vladek is frequently trying to talk to Artie about his troubles with his new wife, Mala, but Spiegelman never wants to listen. Vladek even says, “But I haven’t with whom ELSE to talk!” He is trying to explain to his son that he has no one else to talk to (67). Vladek is trying to establish some father-to-son bond with his son that he did not have in the past. Even though he is complaining about his new wife, he is just trying to talk to his son more, but all Spiegelman is doing is using his father to write his book. He does not want to bond with his father, Vladek. Many times throughout the story, Vladek offers his son some coffee or tea in efforts to spend more time with his son, but Spiegelman always refuses. This is Vladek’s way of reaching out to his son. He is trying to make things good between himself and his son, and have the healthy father-son relationship he never had, but Spiegelman simply will not let his walls down, figuratively speaking of course. It seems that Spiegelman does not want any emotional tie with his father what so ever. Even when Vladek realizes he should have never remarried after Anja’s death and begins to break down by saying: “Why, Artie? Why I ever remarried? Oy, Anja! Anja! Anja” (127)! Artie simply responds, “Easy Pop… / Let’s go home” (127, ellipses in original). Instead of trying to comfort his father with words of kindness or having some sort of heart-to-heart moment, Artie simply pats him on the back. The reason he does not want to bond with Vladek is that he may be blaming him for the suicide of his mother, Anja.
Spiegelman never forgives his father. When Spiegelman gives accreditation or gratitude to the people who influenced him or helped him write his book, he, but, ironically enough, never gives credit to his father, even though he is a huge part of the book. On page eight, before the beginning of chapter one, there is a whole page dedicated to his mother, Anja; the page says: “For Anja.” This reinforces the idea that he still has not forgave his father, and does not have a lot of respect for him.
Guilt is another aspect influencing the relationship between Artie and Vladek. The main guilt they share between each other is the guilt over Anja’s suicide. Artie did not treat Anja as best as he should have. For example, in the scene where Anja is asking Artie if he still loves her, she is reaching out to him because she is suffering emotionally (103). Artie merely responds with a hardhearted response, not showing any companionship whatsoever. Artie could have reached out to his mother’s call for help and could have prevented her from committing suicide. After Anja’s funeral, Artie says, “I felt nauseous … The guilt was overwhelming!,” clearly expressing the guilt he has over his mother’s preventable death (102, ellipses in original). Even other people blamed Artie for Anja’s death. After the funeral, Vladek’s friends offered Artie “hostility mixed in with their condolence,” causing Artie to feel even more guilty as they, too, blame Artie for his mother’s death (103). As said before, Artie does not share this guilt alone; Vladek, too, shares the guilty feelings. There is no direct evidence in Maus I that gives the impression that Vladek should feel guilty about Anja’s suicide. Throughout the story it conveys Vladek as doing what he had to do to survive with Anja during the war. He always showed love and companionship towards Anja. For example, Vladek was in Bielsko working on his factory business and looking for an apartment for Anja and himself, while Anja stayed in Sosnowiec with her family (31). Soon after, Vladek receives a telephone call explaining Anja is sick and he must come right away (31). He does so, and tries to comfort Anja as best he could. This illustration conveys him as doing whatever is needed, at any given moment, to be there and support Anja. This is true; however, when Anja is reaching for Artie for support, one can raise the question of why she was depressed in the first place. This suggests that Vladek was not doing what he is supposed to be doing as Anja’s husband, causing Anja to fall into a depressed cavity. This may be one of the reasons Vladek feels so much guilt.
The relationship Artie and Vladek share is not healthy. Despite it being unhealthy, Vladek is putting forth so much effort to make the relationship good. There is no excuse for Vladek treating Artie the way he did when Artie was a child. Sure, the Holocaust forever scarred Vladek and did change him, but that is no excuse for his behavior. Mala even says, “All of our friends went through the camps. Nobody is like him!,” explaining to Artie that his father’s behavior is not excusable because of the war, because the other survivors went through the same thing and they do not behave like Vladek (131). Even so, Vladek is trying to redeem his behavior to Artie, but Artie never forgives him. The last thing Artie calls his father before he leaves is murderer (159). Even though, the father and his son never reconciled, we can learn a lesson from it. What the narrator is conveying to his audience is that there is no room for grudges in a healthy relationship. The narrator shows first-hand the outcome of what grudges do to a relationship. Spiegelman teaches his audience the nature of forgiveness, and how important it is for one to forgive another in order for the relationship to grow and be healthy.
Work Cited
Nathanson, Constance A. “The Contingent Power Of Experts: Public Health Policy In The United States, Britain, And France.” Journal Of Policy History 19.1 (2007): 71-94. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History. New York: Pantheon, 1992. Print.
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