Maus
Christian Chung
What role does money play in the story? When/where is money seen in a positive light, and when/where does it cause problems?
The brutality and cruelty during the Holocaust, a tragic genocide of Jews, made it necessary for the Jews to come up with various types of survival tactics. One of the ways that was well and commonly used a lot of times was by using money. Money could be used to bribe people to help them and to get essential goods such as food, and place to stay in for their own living while it also caused some people to snatch or steal their money. Both of the importance of the role of money and the abuse of wealth from other people are well depicted in the survival story of Vladek, Art’s father, drawn Maus by Art Spiegleman. Money played important role in saving the lives of Jews during the Holocaust while sometimes it also led to the cause of dangerous situations.
One of the positive ways money was used for surviving was by bribing people. When Vladek and Anja, his wife, were caught by the Nazis and were trapped in the building in the ghetto where many Jews were taken away to Auschwitz, he could be rescued by bribing his cousins, Jakov and Haskel, who worked as workers. When Vladek was telling Artie his story during the time back then, Vladek mentions that he needed to bribe even his cousins to get out of that building, “ I made signs to show I could pay.”(114). In this scene of Vladek trying to bribe in kind, to bribe with an object rather than with the real bills, to his cousin, he is drawn really desperate with his head almost pressed up against to window since it was his only chance of surviving. The valuable he is holding up with his finger pointing it, is emphasized with contrast of the deep black background and shiny white coloring it. After he made a deal with his cousin of paying him with
What role does money play in the story? When/where is money seen in a positive light, and when/where does it cause problems?
The brutality and cruelty during the Holocaust, a tragic genocide of Jews, made it necessary for the Jews to come up with various types of survival tactics. One of the ways that was well and commonly used a lot of times was by using money. Money could be used to bribe people to help them and to get essential goods such as food, and place to stay in for their own living while it also caused some people to snatch or steal their money. Both of the importance of the role of money and the abuse of wealth from other people are well depicted in the survival story of Vladek, Art’s father, drawn Maus by Art Spiegleman. Money played important role in saving the lives of Jews during the Holocaust while sometimes it also led to the cause of dangerous situations.
One of the positive ways money was used for surviving was by bribing people. When Vladek and Anja, his wife, were caught by the Nazis and were trapped in the building in the ghetto where many Jews were taken away to Auschwitz, he could be rescued by bribing his cousins, Jakov and Haskel, who worked as workers. When Vladek was telling Artie his story during the time back then, Vladek mentions that he needed to bribe even his cousins to get out of that building, “ I made signs to show I could pay.”(114). In this scene of Vladek trying to bribe in kind, to bribe with an object rather than with the real bills, to his cousin, he is drawn really desperate with his head almost pressed up against to window since it was his only chance of surviving. The valuable he is holding up with his finger pointing it, is emphasized with contrast of the deep black background and shiny white coloring it. After he made a deal with his cousin of paying him with