Summary of This Week: "Maus"

During this week, we read chapters one through five of "Maus", which is the whole book. This book is about a Jew's experiences during the Holocaust. A man named Artie wants to write a book about his father's experiences during the Holocaust, but he also finds his father annoying and hard to be around. All the people are represented as animals or at least have a mask of the animal. The Jews were portrayed as mice, the Germans as cats, and the Americans as dogs. Vladek, Artie's father, was separated from his wife and family when he was sent to a German concentration camp. They got numbers and Vladek's was 175113, so when a priest saw him crying he looked at his number and told him that his number starts with 17, which is a good omen, his number ends with 13, which is the age a Jewish boy becomes a man, and it totals 18, which is the Hebrew number of life. This gave him hope. Vladek found out that his wife was in Birkenau, a place two miles away from Auschwitz. A woman named Mancie knew Anja and was able to find a way for Anja and Vladek to write letters and give things to each other without anybody knowing. Then, Vladek got a job as a shoemaker. Guards would come to get their shoes repaired by him and Vladek would get good things like sausages and other foods in return. Anja was always getting hit by the Kapo so when she noticed that the Kapo's boots were falling apart she requested to take them to her husband. When the Kapo got her boots back, Anja was treated differently because they were well made. After a while, Vladek had to start black work which was carrying big stones and digging holes and you could never stop. During the black work, he had to pull apart gas chambers and he saw how terrible they really were. He had to take the bodies out of the gas chambers and put them in big holes in the ground. Then, they put gasoline on the bodies, dead or still alive, and then lit it on fire. They were forced into a train that was more for horses and cows. Everybody was packed together like sardines and there was no room to sit, but Vladek had a blanket that he was able to tie to two hooks attached to the ceiling, so he was above everyone. There was no food or water and a lot of people died. The only thing they could digest was the snow on the roof that only Vladek could reach, so he traded with people. Eventually, they arrived at a camp in Dachau which was crowded and horrible. In the straw beds, there was lice which gave people Typhus. Also, to get food you had to show them your shirt, and if there was lice in it you wouldn't get any food. One day, Vladek met a French man and they became friends. The French man was not a Jew so he was able to get packages from his family which he shared with Vladek. Vladek traded chocolate for a shirt. After some time, Vladek got Typhus and became too sick to eat or sleep. Then, a train came to take people to Switzerland. They stopped somewhere and were told to go to the Americans but then some German patrols spotted them and collected them by a lake. The Germans would round them up then disapperar. Vladek and a friend of Vladek's, Shivek, found a hiding place in a barn. They found some milk and chickens that they ate. After a while there stomachs got sick from the chicken and milk. After a few days, the Americans came and helped them out. The Americans used the house as a base and let Vladek and Shivek stay, but in return they kept the place clean. When Vladek was free, he went to America and became a salesman. When he had to return to Europe, he went to live on a farm with Shivek. Later, he got sick and had to go to the infirmary. Vladek and Shivek went to Sosnowiec to go find Anja, but when Vladek got off the train, he couldn't find Shivek or his luggage. Vladek walked for three or four weeks to the place where Anja was and eventually found her.
On Monday I was Discussion Director. I had questions like:
~What do you think will happen next?
~This story is a graphic novel so, why do you think the author made the story a graphic novel instead of a regular novel? Do you think the author did this because he thought he could express it better by showing it more than describing it?
~What do you think the mood of the story is?
~Artie finds his father kind of annoying and extreme, but during this chapter Francoise makes Artie and Vladek take a walk. Do you think the walk that Vladek and Art take will create a better bond between them?
~What is the theme of this story?
~The story is about the Holocaust but do you think the author wrote this story in an optimistic way or pessimistic way? Why?
On Tuesday I was Illuminator, so:
~pg.41: I really didn't understand this page. On this page Art is sitting on a pile of dead bodies.
~pg.41-pg.47(panel 4): On these pages, there are humans wearing animal masks, instead of the people actually being the animal.
~pg.72(panel 5): During this page it is showing people in large pits being set on fire. I thought that was a little creepy, disturbing, and sadly memorable.
~pg.71(panel 1): I found it ironic that the first time they came to the concentration camp, they thought that the showers were filled with gas or something that would kill them even though they were regular showers, but then here they thought these were normal showers but instead gases that killed them came out.
On Wednesday I was Illustrator.
On Thursday I was the Connector:
~During “Maus”, the Americans were portrayed as dogs. Why do you think the Americans were portrayed as dogs? I think that was because dogs tend to be known to “scare away” the cats and in the story, the Americans helped get rid of the Germans.
~When the Americans were portrayed as dogs, Germans as cats, and Jews as mice (not to forget, French as frogs), it reminded me of Tom and Jerry. The cat, Tom, is always out to get the mouse, Jerry. And, sometimes when the mouse is in trouble, the dog, Spike comes and helps Jerry.
On Friday I was the Word Watcher but I could not find any words so:
~Why did Vladek get out of the hospital even though his doctor told him not to? Would you have gone against the doctor’s advice if you were gone?
~At the end of the story, Anja and Vladek’s graves are next to each other. Where was Mala’s grave?
~Shivek was gone at the end of the book. Would you have gone looking for him or just kept going?
Some things about the literature circles:
~When I was confused I was able to ask the others about what I did not understand.
~We all have different views of the story.
~Sometimes we get off topic so we have to redirect ourselves to the main point.
~We got to understand what other people thought and not just our own opinions of the book.
~It was easier to learn more about the book when hearing different sides.

Maus

I chose this book because I it looked like a lot of fun to read and I like reading graphic novels.

You have to have read Chapter 1 by Monday.