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Maus By Art Spiegelm Literary Analysis

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A lot of Holocaust survivors are vegetarians or vegans because they were deprived of meat and any other food with nutritional value. They chose to live their post-holocaust life this way because of their experiences and the memories that they will always carry. The book Maus written by Art Spiegelman is about Art writing about Vladek's (his father's) experiences through the holocaust. Art emphasizes all of the hardships he went through and how the memories have affected him in the present. The theme the past can affect the present is represented through Vladek not hiring anyone to do work for him, Vladek always making Art finish his food, and Vladek's glass eye.

An example of how the past affects the present is when Mala called Art in the middle of the night to help Vladek fix something on the roof. Vladek was on the roof by himself because he didn't want to hire someone to fix the problem and he thought he could do it himself. Mala was getting worried that he would fall or get hurt. “I’m telling you I don't know what to do with your father, he just climbed onto the roof!” (CITATION) Vladek does not trust anyone else to do his work. Vladek does not want to waste his money on someone else doing a job for him. He thinks he can do everything himself. Vladek learned in the war to work for everything. He does not …show more content…

He still has the glass eye to tell stories about it to Art. “It had to be taken out from me. And now I don't see so well.” (CITATION) Vladek was explaining to Art what had happened to his eye. Vladek's eye relates to the theme because you can never escape the past. Vladek got his eye from when he was in the war and he now sees the world differently because of the eye. Vladek now sees the world in a different perspective. He now literally sees the world differently because of his eye. He also looks at the world differently because he is now stingy and mean because of the

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