I think it is good for this kind of story to be a graphic novel because it is a way for Art to let out his emotions in a way that he is comfortable with, it allows him to not take things so seriously, he's probably been taking things seriously all his life so this is probably a big relief. Many people look at Holocaust stories as something tragic and something that should never be joked about. Not that Art is joking around, but making a graphic novel about the holocaust is so different from what I've seen before. It's a different way of looking at the holocaust, a way that does not have to be so serious. Especially with animals as characters. Very Clever!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
passing down traditions
Traumas, any kind of traumas, but especially traumas from the holocaust can most definitely get passed down from father to son. If you're a child of a holocaust survivor, you're going to see and hear a lot of horrific things. You're probably going to witness your father go through his own depression and confusion, at the same time trying to figure life out for yourself. You're father might be closed off from you and your family because of all the stuff he has seen and it might be frustrating that no matter how hard you try, you will never understand what your father has went through or why he does the things he does. This can definitely affect a child's mental state and how they understand their own lives. It can really drive that child to become mentally crazy. When you're little, you see your parents as role models and as people you want to be like and follow in their footsteps. If you see your father doing unusual, crazy things like being violent or very passive you start to think that it is normal to do that and you might be inclined to follow that way of life even if you didn't go through the holocaust yourself because it is all you've ever seen growing up. Art Spiegelman witnessed the violence of his father, his father destroyed his mother's written accounts of what happened in Auschwitz and had to go through his mother committing suicide. Art was even committed to a mental hospital 3 months before his mother's death. It must have been even harder for him that his mom committed suicide after his release from the mental hospital.
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I really like your analysis on the traumas experienced by Art growing up around Vladek. There are cases of children who experience mental breakdown when they become adulthood because of what happened to them as a child. It could be their parents' divorce, abuse (physically and/or mentally), etc. However, when one's parents are holocaust survivors, the traumas seem to intensify.
ReplyDeleteAnja's death has affected Art a lot. First of all, he feels bad because he was ignoring her not so long before her death and all she wanted was to know whether Art still loves her. It must really hard when the last words he said to his mother was not affectionate. He would probably regret it and wish he could change it but it was too late now. In addition, Vladek makes it worse because it seems like he blames Art for what happened to Anja. I cannot imagine the mental combats that Art experience throughout his life.