Not only does he seem to draw some distinction between the two in the context of money but he also keeps more pictures of Anja on his desk than his current wife and seemingly idealizes his relationship with her in comparison to his marriage to Mala (Spiegelman, 104). Somewhat peculiar because Mala went through the camps as well, he does not seem able to communicate well with her at all, possibly somewhat because his memory of Anja draws a wedge between the two of them. This is evidenced by his admittance to Vladek that he questions why he ever remarried to begin with (127). Perhaps since he went through the most harrowing experiences with Anja and with her experienced the greatest personal losses both of loved ones and property, he is more attuned to considering her to be his true partner. In contrast, he considers Mala to be largely concerned with only his money and devoted only to his pocketbook. His relationship with his son I would stereotype as being one of detachment, possibly lacking in true empathy. Art's life experiences and those of Vladek are not only severely disparate but furthermore estranged because of Art's interpretation of why his father raised him the way he did. Art allows this distance largely because of his inability to communicate the exact reasons that he was so hard on his son. The holocaust certainly made him more frugal, harsher, and more reliant on a strict work ethic. These are the experiences of many holocaust survivors, including
Not only does he seem to draw some distinction between the two in the context of money but he also keeps more pictures of Anja on his desk than his current wife and seemingly idealizes his relationship with her in comparison to his marriage to Mala (Spiegelman, 104). Somewhat peculiar because Mala went through the camps as well, he does not seem able to communicate well with her at all, possibly somewhat because his memory of Anja draws a wedge between the two of them. This is evidenced by his admittance to Vladek that he questions why he ever remarried to begin with (127). Perhaps since he went through the most harrowing experiences with Anja and with her experienced the greatest personal losses both of loved ones and property, he is more attuned to considering her to be his true partner. In contrast, he considers Mala to be largely concerned with only his money and devoted only to his pocketbook. His relationship with his son I would stereotype as being one of detachment, possibly lacking in true empathy. Art's life experiences and those of Vladek are not only severely disparate but furthermore estranged because of Art's interpretation of why his father raised him the way he did. Art allows this distance largely because of his inability to communicate the exact reasons that he was so hard on his son. The holocaust certainly made him more frugal, harsher, and more reliant on a strict work ethic. These are the experiences of many holocaust survivors, including