Holocaust Trauma: from One Generation to the Next...

           Having seen Anja’s depression due to the experiences she had during WWII growing up, Artie might have internalized the dysfunction of his family and his mom’s depression. On the Prisoner on the Hell Planet: A Case History, Artie mentioned that he had been in the mental hospital from a nervous breakdown. His childhood experiences might somewhat contribute to that. Vladek becomes hysterical when he finds out his wife killed herself without even leaving a note. Seeing his father like that, Art resents his mother for “murdering” him. Art feels guilty for his mom’s death because had he been home earlier he might have found her body or might even be able to prevent it.

            The story suggests Art might have suffered from the depression also. He feels like he will never understand what his father and other holocaust victims have gone through because he was not there to witness it and because he has a better life than they did. Artie feels guilty for portraying his dad in such an unpleasant way but that how he sees his father and he wants to keep the story truthful. In addition, Artie feels like he will never live up to his dead brother, Richieu. Art thinks that since his brother died such an early age, Richieu would always be the favorite since he had never gotten into any troubles. Art sees himself as a disappointment to his dad because everything Art does is never good enough to Vladek. It must have been hard growing up like that. In the final scene, Vladek called him Richieu which might add to Art’s ongoing depression.

            I guess Artie chooses to tell his father’s story in comic form because he is an artist and that’d be easier for him to portray the story. Depicting a holocaust story as a graphic novel might make what happened to the victims less gruesome, especially when they are drawn as animals. The pictures make the readers feel like they were there with Vladek and Artie experiencing the same thing that they are.