Maus I and II
QTPC #8
Quotation- “And now I though: ‘how amazing it it that a human being reacts the same like this neighbor’s dog.’” page 82. It’s sad that Vladek was so used to seeing death that he could compare a person’s death to the shooting of his neighbor’s dog years before.
Talking Point- The Jews were treated as slaves by the Nazis. They had to carry soup barrels, fix shoes, clean up dead bodies, etc. When the war was finally over, the Jews again were in a camp where they were working for people. The conditions were better and they recieved more food, but the Americans kept them in camps again when they just wanted to be free to find any remaining friends and family.
Connection- On pages 98-100, Francoise picked up a hitch hiker who was “shvartser”. Vladek was really upset because he thinks all blacks steal and that the hitch hiker is going to steal their groceries. My grandma is the same way. She thinks every other race are bad people. There was a time on a road trip to Georgia that we stopped at a gas station. It was run by Arabian people. I really had to go to the bathroom and then I planned on getting a sandwich because there was a Subway inside the gas station. Unfortuantely the bathroom was out of order. My grandma made a remark about it has probably been out of order for weeks and she wouldn’t let me get a sub because “they probably don’t wash their hands”. I couldn’t believe she was like that.
QTPC #7
Quotaion- “See what I mean… In real life you’d never have let me talk this long without interrupting.” (page 16) It seems like Spiefelman was really having a conversation with his wife until this point. That comment seemed like he was almost badmouthing his wife by saying that she always interupts him when they are having a conversation.
Talking Point- Vladek says on page 26 how the Nazis took away their names when the Jews were tattooed with numbers. Its so sad to think that people were identified as numbers. In interviews you read how survivors still have that number and it’s a constant reminder of the horrible event.
Connection- Mandelbaum seems to not enough hands to be able to do everything. He can’t hold up his pants, his shoe, hold onto his spoon, and his bowl of soup all at the same time. He drops his spoon and someone steals it and he spills his soup during the incident. It reminds me of the time I had tendon reconstruction and could only use my right wrist. I couldn’t hold onto all my books and open doors or unlock my locker combintaion. I would drop my books and people wouldn’t help me; they’d just keep walking on by. It was kind of depressing knowing that people didn’t care.
QTPC #6
Quotation- “We knew the stories- that they will gas us and throw us in the ovens. This was 1944… We knew everything. And here we were.” This quote ends the dad’s story in the first book. It’s so sad to hink about. They realized they were probably going to die soon after being tricked.
Talking Point- It’s funny how the mice disguise themselves with pig masks. In real life someone might fall for a Jew pretending to be someone else because they could easily remove the star. In the comic, no one in their right mind would fall for a mouse with a pig mask on.
Connection- On page 130, they are talking about the dad being strict on money. He reminds me of my parents. Two summers ago, my family moved and owned two house because we were waiting for the one to sell. My family became very tight on money. I had to beg them for some to get a new pair of jeans or shoes for school. I ended up taking money out of my savings to be able to get stuff and there were a lot of things I couldn’t do at the time because there wasn’t enough money for it.
QTPC #5
Quotation- “So I sat with him and his wife a good few hours. We heard shooting and screams.” page 80 Reading this was hard because it made you think how horrible it would be to sit there knowing people of your religion were being persecuted.
Talking Point- It’s confusing to read the storyline the first time through. The sentences are written odd. For example, page 51, “Of course, nobody of us said a word”. I don’t know if it sounds different because of the translation or because the author wanted it to be that way.
Connection- On page 43, he is talking about how his father would make him eat all of his dinner. When I was little, I had dinner with my neighbors. My friend’s mom would not let me leave the table until I finished all of my food and I had to eat some of everything that was served that evening. That meant I had to eat the lima beans which I did not like at all.
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