On page 64 in Maus II, Vladek focuses on the struggles of Auschwitz. He explains to Art how cigarettes could be exchanged for bread and things of that nature. During this time, Vladek was severely missing his wife, Anja, and would do anything to get her near him, even starve a little bit. After having saved up enough, Anja was with Vladek in Auschwitz.
On this page, Spiegelman places a panel that shows how much bread is worth, 3 cigarettes, and how much 1 bottle of vodka is worth, 200 cigarettes. I think that it is interesting that he chose to portray this.
Also, the drawings of Vladek in Auschwitz were extremely dark. Just by reading and viewing this page, a cold feeling came over me. The illustrations on this page helped with the understanding of what Vladek was going through.
In the end, Vladek claims to be "the happiest since being at Auschwitz" when Anja finally arrives at the concentration camp.
I liked how you mentioned how dark the illustrations were. The ones where he was in Auschwitz were mainly black ink but the ones where he is in the park talking to Art were bright and more clear. Definitely says something about the overall atmosphere within the camps. Maybe elaborate on why you think it's interesting that Spiegelman portrayed how the different goods were worth? It all comes down to how hard it actually was to save that much bread and that many cigarettes for a bribe. It's truly remarkable how resourceful Vladek was and how he did anything he could, including starving himself, in order to be closer with his wife.
ReplyDeleteOh I kind of repeated your third sentence. My bad
ReplyDelete