Blog Post 12

In the first volume of Maus, the moment that Jews were deported from their hometown to the camps after Germans occupied Poland leave me a deep impression. When Art mentioned that Anja’s grandparents were sent into camps and Vladek’s father, sister, and his sister’s children are all deported to the camps, very strong emotions of desperation and hopeless are full of the pictures and words. Although Vladek and Anja escaped from sending to camps, the separation with their family members and their first son, Richieu, were a more terrible mental hurt, especially for Anja. Since Anja committed with suicide when Art was young, Art didn’t give a clear characteristics for his mother. However, Art expressed that he really wanted to know more about her mother from his father, including her mother’s past and the truth what caused her death. So, within this moment, Art descripted his mother’s experience and mental conditions indirectly. At the same time, Art’s brother, Richieu, who was poisoned by Anja’s sister is also a character in background, like Anja. Richieu’s tragedy was always a shadow in the all story. He never existed in Art’s life actually, but he always affected Art’s childhood. And a lot of Vladek’s emotions were expressed by his missing of Richieu. I even feel that the second half of Vladek’s life is just for recalling Richieu.