Reading Response: MAUS

In the book, "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, tells a story of Vladek Spiegelman, a holocaust survivor. Through his telling of the story, his son, Art Spiegelman, is in shock and feels guilty for having an easier life style then his parents. Art also learns that because of his father's experience during the holocaust has caused Vladek to be scarred for life. His story will leave the reader thinking and feeling how unwanted and how much hatred German's had towards Jewish people.

In the first book, Vladek did everything he could for his family. He did illegal things that could have led him to his death. He's life as Jew was terrible and very hard to hide, everywhere he went, he would be stopped and would be asked questions. He has also seen close friends dead in the middle of the streets. Vladek and his wife soon had to leave everything behind, including his son. His journey as a slave Jew started and didn't last. Throughout the book, Art learns that his father has given up a lot and that being a rich Jew didn't save any of family, German only wanted Jews to suffer. When Vladek told Art his story, Vladek could feel like it's happening again. An experience like that has led him to be scarred and feel unwanted. But his suffering doesn't stop there, it was only the beginning.

In the second book, His story is more in depth. This time he is in a concentration camp where all Jews are taken to work for German's. At this point, Jews trusted no one, the only person you could trust was yourself. The fear they had was unbreakable, everyone in the camp have been scarred and have been through a lot. Many people died, Vladek was lucky to be alive. He was given a lot of opportunities unlike other Jews. Throughout the book, he witness deaths and torture towards other Jews. Since him and his wife were separated from each other, he had no idea whether she was alive or not but he still hoped that they will find each other once again. Hope didn't exist for Jews but it did for Vladek. I think when he was in the camp he suffered way more because he was marked as a Jew and didn't have anywhere to hide.

In conclusion, I think Vladek's story can have a big impact on other people because many readers aren't Jews or weren't alive at the time and it can open their eyes and show them how much Jews suffered during the holocaust. It also led me thinking that us humans shouldn't judge people by the way they look, talk, dress or walk. Everyone has a different story that we don't know because in the end we all have suffered and it has led us scars. Each scar shows the pain we've been through to stay alive and be where we are today.